The free, open-air concert of Puerto Rican musical wonder group Calle 13 drew around 60,000 Ticos to La Sabana last night and set the stage for the rest of the 2012 International Festival of the Arts (FIA). Calle 13 managed to heat up the FIA, which will continue until March 25^th. The night concert started with “Digo lo que pienso”, followed by the mega-hit “Baile de los pobres.”

As is their signature style, Calle 13 took time to talk to the audience about matters they consider of social importance in Latin America, such as equal access to quality education and proper support of local artists. Frontman Residente then dedicated the hit song “La Bala” (The Bullet) to the memory of Facundo Cabral, the Argentinian troubadour who was killed in a botched assassination in Guatemala. The always controversial Residente reminded the audience at La Sabana about Palidejo, the Tico who is being held captive as a responsible mastermind of the event that took Facundo’s life.

Near the end of the evening, Calle 13 brought Grammy Award recipient and Tico composer Walter Flores onstage to accompany the band in a sharp rendition of La Perla. Calle 13 played on the Kolbi concert stage at La Sabana, the same stage where Alan Parsons will play in the next few days.

Evelyne House of Shame at La Aduana

While Calle 13 warmed up the chilly night in San Jose, members of French theater group La Zouse were raising body temperatures a few degrees higher at La Aduana. Evelyne House of Shame is a fine, yet risque, piece of performance art that has been very well-received by European audiences -but it is sure to make a few conservative Ticos blush.

The setting of Evelyne House of Shame is not a traditional theater stage, but rather an open performance stage where the audience is free to walk around and explore the antics conducted by the performers. Costume, theater, body art, and dance are combined into the performance. The intended effect is shock, laughter and arousal. The audience should be prepared to be in close proximity to performers in various stages of undress.

The last performance of Evelyne House of Shame will take place on Sunday night at La Aduana. Tickets are free and limited to a few hundred people. Those interested in being shocked and having a good time should try to get their tickets early, around 3:00 pm.

The Straniero

Mark Di Giuseppe is an Italian-American performer who is the most famous one-man band in the world. Known as The Straniero, he doesn’t just sound like a band; he rather sounds like an orchestra. His debut was at the street fair in Desamparados on Saturday, but on Sunday he will be at the Museum of Art at 4:00 pm, and on Monday at Plaza de la Cultura in San Jose at noon.

Di Giuseppe is an accomplished musician who has traveled the world playing his own brand of jazz, gypsy, soul, funk, and folk music for over 20 years.

Remember, there is only one week left on the FIA. For more information on the events left, read our previous article here, or visit the program schedule here.