The Major Lazer concert, produced by Musicabana, was a historic moment in Cuban and American history as ties between the two countries are normalizing.
Major Lazer created history by being the first Amercian artists to perform on Cuban soil since Audioslave’s performance back in 2005. Both performances took place inΒ Havana on the Tribuna Antiimperialista, a stage built in 2000 as a monument to victims of American injustices. The free concert was a pre event to the upcoming Musicabana Festival (also free) which mainly features artists from and around Cuba. Artists like Sean Paul, Pablo Milanes, Mayra Andrade, Ibeyi and Havana D’Primera among others will be seen performing from May 5 to 8.
Interestingly famous musician Pablo Milanes’ son, Fabien Pisani, is the founder and co-producer of Musicabana. He is the mastermind behind this transitional period in Cuban history. Major Lazer of course did their bit by self funding the entire concert costing them about $150,000 and bringing a message of peace. Just this single event managed to attract over 400,000 people. With such a crowd response, one can only imagine how many people will turn up at the actual festival.
The concert took place just before President Obama’s scheduled visit to Cuba and the much awaited grand The Rolling Stones concert later this March. This might be exactly what Cuba needs to boost its economy with an influx of tourism and maybe in the future turn into a destination festival hotspot.