Los Van Van Revisit US From Cuba With Hopes for No Protest Sideshows

Something very exciting is expected to happen when Los Van Van kick off their first US tour in nine years with shows at Los Angeles' Conga Room on Dec. 2 and 3:

Nothing.

Well, nothing other than getting to have the Cuban superstar band perform its ever-evolving, always floor-shaking "songo" mix of son, salsa, funk, jazz and various degrees of pop for its fans, as in this live video clip.

Watch Los Van Van's Live 'Sandunguera' Video

No protests. No boycotts. At least not close to the level of the past, such as demonstrations that greeted the group in Miami in 1999, which turned violent. It all marked something of a generational divide among Cuban expats. At risk of overgeneralizing, those who fled the island in the early years of the Castro revolution saw Los Van Van at best as being pawns of the regime and at worst apologists, and viewed bringing them or any Cuban artists here as an act of appeasement. Even playing their music on the radio brought out angry pickets and phone calls, some rather threatening. Not that there's anything political about the band's music at all.

Hugo Cancio, the Miami-based promoter and producer whose Fuego Entertainment is putting on the LVV tour, says that DJs got fired, advertisers were boycotted, and it was a climate of fear.

"Back 10, 12 years ago when I was doing this, we weren't allowed to buy radio or television ads," Cancio says. "They would not take our money."

Cut to the present:

"The community is more open now."

People who came over later were raised on Los Van Van's music. After being founded in 1969 by Juan Formell, who is still the band's leader, Los Van Van quickly became the leading force in Cuban popular music, both at home and among Latin music fans and expats in many lands. And for those younger arrivals in the US, LVV represented sounds from home.

Cancio – whose father, Miguel, was a founding member of the highly popular '60s doo-wop-rooted Cuban group Los Zafiros -- is one of those, born in Havana and coming to Florida in the 1980 Mariel boatlift when he was 16.

"There's a new generation of Cubans here," he says. "They may disagree with things in the Cuban government that for political or economic reasons made them come to the US. But they still want to be in touch, travel back and forth, and keep their traditions and music and culture alive. The things we have in common, we can engage in a conversation without getting into an argument by talking about culture."

Indeed, while a Miami appearance by Los Van Van in February drew an organized protest, reports pegged it at merely 400-strong, with most participants older than 50.

And that translates into economics.

"When you see the local television stations and look at the advertising roster, the businesses are making money on travel-related services to Cuba," he says. "Or the same furniture store that would have pulled an ad in the past, now the generation buying furniture is my generation."

That also translates to politics. While during the Bill Clinton presidential administration there was a distinct thawing of the Cuba-U.S. freeze – Cancio says he produced "over 32 tours" in those eight years – the two Bush terms were tough in that regard, in large part due to the Republicans' strong courting of the anti-Castro Cuban community in Florida.

"During the [George W.] Bush administration, not even a pair of maracas or congas made in Cuba got into the U.S.," Cancio says. "During Bush, I wasn't allowed to go as much to visit my relatives, only once every three years. And nothing from Cuba could come here – no Cuban artists or intellectuals."

And, he adds, "Politicians [in the past] would not get elected based on views of Cuba. Barack Obama came to Florida and said he would reach out to Cuba – and still got elected."

Meanwhile, the changes in Cuba, with Fidel Castro having stepped aside in favor of his brother Raúl and an accompanying perception that reforms are being made, have also softened stances in the US regarding economic and cultural involvement.

So, against that backdrop, here come Los Van Van.

"We're talking about the Rolling Stones of Latin music, the most legendary and popular Cuban band ever," says Cancio, without much undue hyperbole – though the Stones comparison is all about longevity and place in the pantheon rather than any musical similarities.

And for them and other Cuban artists, touring the US is a treat. It's not about profit, as there isn't really any for them. It's about the idea – a true cultural interaction.

"Not a single Cuban artist hasn't been influenced by American music, whether African-American artists from the '50s and '60s or, today, hip-hop," Cancio says. "Cuban artists love to come to the US. The have family members here, cousins, best friends. For them it's a sacrifice; they don't make any money. But there are other types of satisfaction. And there is hope in the future that when restrictions are lifted, they'll have a huge market waiting for them."