Julieta Venegas - Unplugged & Uncompromised

OK, we all know that Julieta used to be a rockera and then she went pop. That being established, there are still many reasons to love her, perhaps even more, as now she has been able to pursue her own musical trajectory, part of which I was privileged to share in last Sunday at a free concert in Central Park, NYC. (Incidentally, there should be more free music in the world, more access to art, more public & private monies to pay the artists so the public’s access isn’t so restricted.) As you may know, Julieta recently recorded an MTV Unplugged album, and though I have not yet watched the YouTube videos, I got a taste of her latest project at her concert, as she is now touring the unplugged versions of her songs. Let me start by saying that Julieta had 14, yes, 14, musicians on stage with her playing everything from orchestral strings to brass to keyboard to congas. The bass player was even doubling as a tambourine player (the tambourine was played with his foot while he plunked away on an upright bass). What an orchestration! Clearly Julieta’s compositional skills are not lacking. Neither is her musicianship. During the concert Julieta sang, and played guitar, and played piano, and of course, played her sparkly red and black accordion (red and black...how cool is that). Then there were her shoes, low silver pumps that were decorated with little purple lighting bolts to match her purple dress. Needless to say, I was in love.

But no concert is complete without it's público, and no city is complete without its Mexicans, which, in New York, are hard to locate if you don’t know where to look. Of course, it wasn’t just the paisas that came out.
I happened to be standing next to a group of rasta-colombianos and some Peruvians. I was also standing next to a Mexican woman and her daughter. The little girl looked about nine years old. She stood there, gripping the front security fence for three hours while we waited for the line-up to start, for the first two acts to do their thing (DJ Bitman & Pastillina Mosh), for the set change to be completed, and then for Julieta to finally come on stage. When Julieta emerged, the little girl was soooo excited. She was singing along with the songs, and whenever Julieta walked towards our side of the stage, the little girl reached her arm out, as true fans do, trying to get as close to her beloved idol as possible. It reminded me of the Selena craze, and I thought, isn’t it awesome that this little girl has female star to look up to—an artist who does not allow herself to be sexualized in the gross ways that other female artists often are, a singer/songwriter/musician who came of age in the Tijuana rock scene and who gives her fans a wealth of true talent to admire.