MiamiTickets.co · Local knowledge
Los Van Van Played Inside. Miami Protested Outside
On October 9, 1999, Los Van Van performed at Miami Arena. Reaching the concert required some patrons to pass through a large protest outside.
The Cuban band’s planned Miami appearance had already become a public fight before it took place. For many Cuban exiles, a prominent group that had succeeded under Fidel Castro’s government was inseparable from the regime they had fled or opposed. For concertgoers, hearing one of Cuba’s most important dance bands was a musical opportunity they wanted the freedom to take.
Those positions were not abstractions in Miami. They were held by neighbors and, sometimes, members of the same families. The original concert plans faced enough opposition to be disrupted before the show found its way to the arena. On the night itself, thousands demonstrated. Police managed the crowds while the performance went ahead inside.
Los Van Van’s musicians played; their audience heard them. That fact should not be lost beneath accounts of the confrontation. Nor should the confrontation be treated as mere color outside a concert hall. It revealed the pressure placed on music when a city’s history is still painfully present.
The dispute continued after the show. Questions about the security costs charged to promoter Debbie Ohanian became part of a legal challenge. The concert had tested more than whether an arena could host a controversial act. It raised the issue of what it costs to put on a performance when others strongly oppose it.
Miami has heard Cuban music in countless settings. This particular night remains distinct because the same music represented different things on either side of the arena doors. To tell its history fairly is to remember the people who protested, the people who entered, and the band that played despite the conflict.