HAVANA — A day later and I'm still reeling from one of the truly great musical, cultural, life-affirming events I've ever been lucky enough to be a part of.

First of all, to Green Day, Bruce Springsteen, Bright Eyes, Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews, System of a Down — to any band from the U.S. that has ever dreamed of playing Cuba, but dismissed the idea as being virtually impossible — think again. A North American band played the hell out of Havana on Friday night, and it was an encounter that neither Audioslave nor the tens of thousands of rabid young Cubans jammed into La Tribuna Anti-Imperialista plaza and spilling out onto the seaside highway known as the Malecon — will soon forget (see "Audioslave Slay Havana With Historic Show").

A note about the venue: It's a surprisingly modern-looking — at least by Cuba's normally shopworn standards — open-air plaza featuring tubular steel arches that create a tunnel effect, ending in a stage that can accommodate events musical or political. In fact, La Tribuna became famous several years ago as the place Cubans rallied for the return of Elian Gonzales, the boy that sadly became a political football in the decades-old chest-thumping contest between Cuba and its large and powerful neighbor to the north. So the plaza just happens to sit smack-dab in front of the only American government presence in Cuba, the heavily fortified U.S. Interests Section (Guantanamo Bay is not technically part of Cuba), and the billboards the Cubans have erected in front of it give new meaning to in-your-face defiance. "Señores Imperialistas, no los tenemos absolutamente ningún miedo!" (Mr. Imperialists, we have absolutely no fear of you!). Scenes of Abu Ghraib, captioned simply "Fascistas." And just behind the stage, "Venceremos!" (We will win!).

An intimidating, less than welcoming place for a U.S. rock band to play, perhaps? Not at all. Because this wasn't about winning. This wasn't about old disagreements, paranoias, rivalries, embargoes or isolation. This was about inclusion, exchange and that one thing we all get — this was about rocking. That this crowd was ready to rock was apparent from the second we arrived, as local artist X Alfonso (who a couple of hours later would himself join Audioslave onstage) had his fellow Cubanos well primed, and a chant swept like a wave across the sea of, let's say 50 to 60 thousand: "Ow-dyo-slave," "Ow-dyo-slave."

"Audioslave's Havana Affair: John Norris Reports From Cuba".


—John Norris

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