From the rooftop to the open balcony: Porno para Ricardo, U2 and The Beatles

Today, El Nuevo Herald reported that the Cuban punk rock band, Porno para Ricardo, had initiated a protest. Now watching a video posted by the band of the events that led to the news story a different narrative appears.

Porno para Ricardo is a punk rock band that has been censored and prohibited from playing in public. It appears that drawing inspiration from The Beatles who on January 30, 1969 held their last public performance on the rooftop of their building at Apple Records. It was unannounced and ended with the London police shutting them down because the concert had left to traffic stoppages because drivers and pedestrians stopped commuting to watch the concert. The Beatles strategically and secretly placed recording cameras to document the entire affair.



It appears that Porno para Ricardo did the same thing. The only difference being that it was done on an open balcony and not the roof top. The lead singer of the band, Gorki Aguila announces into the camera because they were not allowed to play concerts in public on International Human Rights Day (December 10) that they were going to play at their studio "La Paja Recold." Their are cameras outside on the ground and on the balcony itself recording the happening.



Porno para Ricardo are not the first to steal this stunt from the Beatles, the Irish rock band U2 on two occasions ripped off The Beatles with two rooftop performances. The first, like The Beatles unannounced, was on March 27, 1987 on the roof of of the Republic Liquor Store on the corner of 7th and Main Street in Los Angeles and involved the police. The second was on February 27, 2009 on top of the BBC Broadcasting House in London.

The difference between the roof top live concerts by The Beatles/U2 and Porno para Ricardo is that in Cuba the police didn't even bother to show up and tell the band to stop the public disruption. In communist Cuba the state security agents just shut off electricity to the entire building.

U2 has spoken out on behalf of Oscar Elias Biscet, something Gorki Aguila did first, and called out for a free Cuba. Wonder if they'd be welcomed to play a concert in Cuba today?

Porno para Ricardo should feel in good company because when The Beatles were conquering the world with their music in the 1960s they and their music were forbidden in Cuba. The Castro dictatorship banned their music and also banned The Beatles from ever playing on the island. Decades later, after John Lennon had been assassinated, they erected a statue of him.