My First Concert in Medellin!

I've got a funny story for you about how things sometimes come full circle.

A week ago, I went to my first concert in Colombia and my first in over 5 years. I used to go to a lot back in Melbourne but with Covid and all the travel I've been doing I kind of forgot that I enjoyed them!

But before I tell you about that, I want to take you back to one of my very first Spanish online lessons.

My tutor used to give me songs to listen to and get my to translate them, so when I told her I was travelling to Colombia - she started giving me songs from Colombian artists.

The first one she ever gave me was the MTV Unplugged version of "La Camisa Negra", by an artist named Juanes.

As I was pretty early in my Spanish journey, I obviously didn't understand anything he was saying, but the song always stuck in my head since it was the first Colombian song I'd heard (I'm not counting Shakira haha).

Fast forward to present day and as we're driving through Medellin one day, my girlfriend Carolina points out a billboard to me.

She tells me that one of her all time favourite artists is doing a show in Medellin and it'd be awesome if we could go.

Who is it?

That guy I saw in my Spanish class all those years ago - Juanes.

Turns out he's one of Colombia's most successful artists and he's actually from Medellin.

So we decided to grab some tickets, even though I didn't know a single one of his songs.

Damn that was a good idea!

The fact that he's actually from Medellin added to the incredible show, there was a lot of interaction with the audience and he even played a couple of songs from inside the audience.

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If you're in town I highly suggest heading to one of these concerts, as it's a great way to get amongst the locals and learn about the culture. There were thousands of people there and I was the only foreigner (not counting those people from other parts of Latin America.)

The tickets were super affordable too, around COP 150,000 each (US $40.)

As you're plugging away in the office today, jump on Spotify and check out his album "Mi Sangre."

Cheers,

AK