The coronavirus epidemic has led to the cancelation of concerts big and small as fans are encouraged to stay home. So Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz and Colombian rocker Juanes brought their music to the fans via a livestreamed concert. After their own concerts in Colombia were canceled this week, the two Latin music superstars teamed up Sunday (March 15) for La Gira Se Queda En Casa Para Todos, or The Tour Stays Home For All, which was livestreamed on Sanz's YouTube channel.
With governments around the globe pushing for people to self-quarantine and stay home amid the coronavirus epidemic, Juanes and Sanz are grounded in Miami. Both artists and a small group of musicians, including producer Julio Reyes Copello, pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and bassist Guillermo Vadalá, met at the Art House Miami music studio for an hour of music and banter.
While playing their hits and a cover song, Juanes and Sanz were also reminding fans tuning in from around the world to follow the developing news on COVID-19 and to adhere to the safety guidelines that health professionals are recommending.
Maluma pospone la gira mundial de 11:11 en Europa debido a coronavirus
In this time of social distancing, the mini-concert was proof that we can still enjoy live music through other mediums. Here are five of the top moments from the hour-long La Gira Se Queda En Casa. At press time, over 1.2 million people had watched the livestream on Sanz's YouTube channel.
Sanz and Juanes are informed of Universal CEO Lucian Grainge's hospitalization for coronavirus: In a surprise revelation during the concert, the person filming the livestream informed Sanz and Juanes about Universal Music Group's chairman Lucian Grainge's reported hospitalization for coronavirus and asked the artists for a message for Grainge. Both artists are signed to Universal Music Latin. "We are sending a big hug and we hope you recover very soon," Sanz offered to Grainge in Spanish.
Sanz and Juanes reiterate the importance of staying home: As governments around the globe are recommending, Sanz and Juanes made sure to stress the importance of social distancing and self-quarantining in this time of the coronavirus. "We wanted to bring a bit of music to your home," Sanz said. "It's important to stay home not just for your health, but for the health of everyone else." Juanes added, "It's our responsibility to know that older people and grandparents can suffer the most from this. Facetime them if it's necessary."
Sanz elbow-bumps Juanes and his fellow musicians: Another measure authorities are recommending is elbow-bumping with people instead of shaking hands. Sanz made sure to do plenty of that during the concert, elbow-bumping guests and Juanes. When Sanz asked for a guitar capo, he took the extra step to clean it with a disinfectant wipe.
BMI pospone premios latinos por preocupaciones de salud y seguridad
Sanz and Juanes make intimacy work: After playing large arenas, La Gira Se Queda En Casa Para Todos was a chance to experience Sanz and Juanes' music in a small, intimate and informal setting. Juanes' stadium-ready hits like "La Camisa Negra" and "A Dios Le Pido" were stripped-down but just as moving with jam session arrangements. Props to Rubalcaba who took on Juanes' gnarly guitar solos with the piano and showed that instrument could really get down. Keeping things light-hearted about the absence of a physical audience, Sanz joked, "If there's no applause, we have some applause recorded that we can play."
Sanz and Juanes duet with Juan Luis Guerra classic: For the grand finale, Sanz and Juanes performed a cover of Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra's classic "Burbujas de Amor." The two sounded lovely together as they harmonized in sending some positivity to a world that needs a lot of it right now. As these two artists have not formally recorded a duet together, hopefully, this spur-of-the-moment, live collaboration will lead to that happening in the future.
See the live concert below: