By Michael Swanger michael@dmcityview.com

Imagine the buzz around town if Bruce Springsteen or U2 were to play the Val Air Ballroom. Fans would line up to fork over big money for tickets, radio stations would fall over themselves to pimp the show as the "official station" to welcome them to Des Moines and the daily newspaper would splash pictures and "how-to-buy-a-ticket" stories above the fold as though it were the biggest cultural event to hit town in decades. In a word, it would be bedlam, but it would only be the tip of the iceberg in describing the hype among local Latin music fans about Colombian rock star Juanes' performance there this Sunday.

"I'm dying to see him myself," says Mireya Palma, DJ at La Ley, the Spanish radio station KDLS-FM 105.5. "This is the first time we've had this kind of celebrity in town."

Palma, who has been spinning Latin music in Des Moines for three years, says she is inundated with requests for tickets to Juanes' rock concert from Spanish- and English-speaking fans as far away as Kansas City and Chicago. She says the Colombian singer-songwriter-guitarist is on the verge of crossing over to mainstream audiences like Marc Anthony and Ricky Martin before him. She credits his socially charged lyrics and unique sound for setting him apart from other Latin artists, including the popular Mexican dance bands that routinely pack the Val Air.

"It's very different from the music we normally play," she says. "He's very creative. He writes and performs his own material and he's very proud of his roots. We, as immigrants, can relate to him because his music has a lot of emotion. It's special."

The music industry has also taken a shine to Juanes. His third and quadruple-platinum album, 2005's "Mi Sangre" (My Blood), debuted atop the album charts in numerous countries and remains in the top 10 on Billboard's "Top Latin Albums" chart. One of its three worldwide hits, "La Camisa Negra," has topped the charts in 40 countries, including the United States. He's racked up his 12 Latin Grammy awards including Best Rock Solo Album, Best Rock Song and Best Music Video. And last month, he appeared on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" for the second time. Not bad for a Spanish-singing artist who refuses to sing in English to sell records in the United States.

Even his star power offstage is growing. The singer who once rebuffed Jennifer Lopez has joined the ranks of famous philanthropic musicians like Sting, Paul McCartney and U2's Bono thanks to his charitable efforts to fight AIDS and raise awareness about the need to remove landmines from his native country.

"He's starting to be looked at as a role model for young people," Palma says.
Ticket prices for Juanes' concert on Sunday suggest he's a start-studded artist, too. Advance tickets cost $45, while admission at the door is $50. Ballroom officials say they expect the show to sell out, though tickets remained as of press time.

But what impresses music insiders about Juanes is his willingness to use his star power to break ground in markets like Des Moines, where big-name Latin acts rarely play. As Iowa's Hispanic population continues to grow Palma hopes performances by artists like Juanes might become more commonplace.

"I hope he opens it up," she says. "I wouldn't have believed a couple of years ago we would get a concert like this here. We don't have a lot of Latinos compared to big cities, but we're growing. It would be nice to get people like Shakira or Enrique Iglesias to play here." CV

Swanger

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