Juanes World Tour Dates & Cities Pay Homage to His Native Colombia with Free 'Loco de Amor' Concerts in Unexpected Cities
Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning Colombian superstar Juanes is "crazy in love," or "loco de amor" with his native Colombia and its people -- and he's showing his affection and gratitude with the announcement of his world tour, as well as free "Loco de Amor Por Colombia" concerts in different parts of his homeland that aren't part of the typical touring circuit.
In an effort to promote the arts, peace, cultural education and social change, Juanes will visit Montería (Aug. 19), Pasto (Aug. 24), Pereira (Aug. 28), Valledupar (Sept. 4) and Bucaramanga (Sept. 9).
This unprecedented tour will feature Juanes in a unique way -- he will perform on a floating stage over the Sinú River in Montería, in the north of Colombia, about 30 miles from the Caribbean. Montería is the Capital of Córdoba and has a rich cultural and indigenous history.
Juanes is psyched to delve further into his Colombian roots, pay it forward and perform in areas that he hasn't had the pleasure of visiting.
"I have the desire to connect with places that I have never visited before, to bring this show that fills me with so much enthusiasm, and at the same time to learn more about each region -- know their concerns and wishes -- but above all things, unite hearts through music," he said, according to Universal Music Latino.
"Next year we will be visiting other cities, but we wanted 'Loco de Amor' to kick off in a different way. I want to get closer to Colombia through the art of music; give dignity, importance and relevance to other areas of the country and break with the established schemes."
There was a lot of buzz surrounding Juanes' announcement of the "Loco de Amor Por Colombia" concerts -- so much so that it grabbed the attention of the press and its citizens and competed with the attention of Colombia's Presidential Inauguration (of President Juan Manuel Santos who was sworn in for a second term). Its national newspaper, El Tiempo broke the news and dedicated its front page with the special tour announcement accompanied by a feature story.
For the past two months, the Colombian musical powerhouse has been rehearsing extensively in order to give an unprecedented presentation to the people of Colombia.
According to Universal Music Latino, each show will have a performance and technical team of more than 120 people, including musicians, engineers and producers, who will be responsible for the largest show production ever assembled in these cities. In order to accommodate the massive amount of fans, the stages will be located in spaces such as city centers and plazas.
"In every city the 'Loco de Amor por Colombia' tour visits, Juanes' Mi Sangre Foundation will also hold significant charitable and educational activities the preceding day based on their PAZalobien Methodology. This will include meetings with local music students from each area, where Juanes and his band will create new arrangements of his hit song, 'Odio por Amor' based on local/regional music influences. The students will then join Juanes during the area's concert presentation the following day."
Released in March, the chart-topping and already platinum new album, "Loco De Amor" has already been declared "One of the Five Best Albums of 2014 so far" by People Magazine.
For the album, Juanes teamed up with five-time Grammy Award-winning English producer Steve Lillywhite, who has worked with an impressive roster of artists, such as The Rolling Stones, U2, Dave Matthews Band, The Killers and Morrissey.
Juanes also teamed up with a stellar line-up of musicians, including Emmanuel 'Meme' del Real ("Café Tacvba"), Abe Laboriel on the drums (Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney), Brian Ray on the guitar (Paul McCartney), percussionist Richard Bravo, and Fernando Tobon with the guitar and the Colombian tiple.
The Colombian superstar has six solo albums to his credit, and multi-platinum sales of over 15 million copies.
Regardless of language barriers, Juanes' music has resonated with both English and Spanish speakers across the globe. He's the world's leading all-Spanish language rock artist with two Grammys and 19 Latin Grammys under his belt, as well as with nine No. 1 singles on Billboard's Latin Singles charts.
He's been called "the first truly international rock star to emerge from Latin America" by The Associated Press and "a soulful poet and Latin America's hottest singer-songwriter" by The New York Times.
In June, Juanes surprised his fans and fellow Colombians in the US with an impromptu intimate, acoustic performance at a Colombian restaurant in Miami called "Pueblito Viejo" where he performed "Una Flor."
"Colombian music is in my blood, in my DNA," he told Billboard.
Juanes is scheduled to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sept. 21.
Check out Juanes' "La Luz" off of "Loco de Amor," and witness the energy he brings to the stage and what lucky Colombians and international ticket buyers are in for with his world tour and "Loco de Amor Por Colombia" concerts.
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