Review: Juanes has Tucson crowd singing along at sold-out concert

Chances are you’ll be able to find a clip or two of the show.

A good number of the 5,000 Juanes fans at the sold-out concert shot video and took pictures of the scruffy rocker with their cell phones and digital cameras, holding them up like glowing beacons above the crowd during the Colombian superstar’s 90-minute set.

The practice doesn’t exactly coincide with AVA rules. Signs around the outside of the venue strictly forbid it.

But that wasn’t going to stop this determined bunch of concertgoers.

Juanes is at the top of the Latin rock scene. It’s not uncommon for him to play venues five times the size of his latest casino stop.

Add to that the fact that he hasn’t been here in years and some probably felt they had good reason to break the rules.

Mere seconds after the vocalist opened the show with “A Dios le Pido,” the hit single from his second album, “Un Día Normal,” Juanes had more cameras on him than Britney Spears pumping gas in West Hollywood.

The amateur photographers, many of whom immediately rushed the stage from all over the packed seating area, stayed focused on the singer through hits from his debut release, “Fijate Bien” up to his latest album, “La Vida…es un Ratico.”

Dressed in a skin-tight, black T-shirt and matching slacks and sporting his new, shorter Colin Farrell haircut, Juanes remained unfazed.

Camera flashes didn’t distract him from rocking the guitar and vocals on “Me Enamora,” “No Creo en el Jamas,” and the funky, tropical “Gotas de Agua Dulce.”

He posed for shots between preaching world peace and discussing his recent “Paz Sin Fronteras” concert that brought in more than 100,000 people to the Colombia/Venezuela border in March.

When fans weren’t documenting the performance on their various electronic devices, they unleashed their hips and waved unfurled Colombian flags with pride.

Juanes didn’t have Nelly Furtado to duet with during his song, “Fotografía,” but he had a venue full of women more than happy to take her place, singing along with the heartthrob word-for-word.

They kept singing through the upbeat “Volverte a Ver,” the mega-hit “La Camisa Negra” and the romantic “Para Tu Amor” as Juanes led his seven-man team of drummers, keyboard players and guitarists in front of a futuristic, metallic backdrop complete with video visuals and flashing blue, red and yellow lights.

In an effort to show who the most diehard fan was, one woman brought along her official Arizona “JUANES” license plate.

Another gentleman, obviously comfortable with his significant other’s wandering eye, wore a t-shirt with the line: “Juanes, my wife loves you” printed in Spanish across his chest.

The crowd was festive but not rowdy or overbearing, giving the venue a festive feel of peace love and harmony — just the way Juanes likes it.

It is well worth a visit to YouTube to re-live the experience all over again.