HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle
Expand

The Cuban Heavy Metal Band That Joined the Communist Regime

Views:942
@ReasonVids

The members of Zeus fought for the freedom to be "frikis." Then they joined the Castro government's official Agency of Rock.
------------------
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magaz...
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Subscribe to our podcast at Apple Podcasts: https://goo.gl/az3a7a

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.
----------------
Dionisio Arce, the lead singer of heavy metal band Zeus, spent six years in a Cuban prison in the early '90s for having long hair and playing the music of the capitalist enemy. A decade later, the band became part of the communist government's Agency of Rock.

By joining the Castro regime, did Zeus sell out, or was the band making a necessary compromise to keep playing its music and to bring more cultural and artistic freedom to Cuba?

That's one of the main questions posed by the new documentary Los Últimos Frikis, out now via video on demand and streaming. The film, which was made in association with the Moving Picture Institute, was shot between 2009 and 2019. It charts the rise and fall of Zeus after a period in which Cuba's communist government jailed and tortured musicians, artists, activists, writers, and other free-thinking "freaks," or frikis in Spanish.

Rock music had become a popular outlet for the angst and aspirations of young Cubans starting in the 1970s. By the '80s, however, government officials started to crack down on these anti-authoritarian headbangers, whose work they branded a dangerous "ideological diversion" from the revolution. Zeus' lead singer, Arce, had been part of a trendsetting heavy metal group called Venus that was banned from performing entirely.

Up through the early '90s, many rockers continued to be imprisoned, including Arce, who is the central character in the film. But after the fall of the Soviet Union cut off Cuba's primary source of revenue, the country's dictator Fidel Castro faced a near-total economic collapse and was forced to accept some cultural and market liberalization.

To attract foreign investment, the government aimed to give the outward impression that ordinary Cubans had cultural and artistic freedom. The Castro regime reversed course on rock and started giving heavy metal bands like Zeus the freedom to perform openly through the government-sanctioned Agency of Rock—as long as they stayed within the boundaries of acceptable expression. Around that time, Arce was released from prison, and he proceeded to find even greater fame as the lead singer of Zeus.

But as director Nicholas Brennan chronicles in the documentary, Cuba's post-Soviet openness to rock came with strings attached. The government presented the band with a Faustian bargain: partner with the newly created Agency of Rock, and in exchange, Zeus would be able to perform before huge crowds at the only major rock venue in Havana.

Produced, written, and edited by Justin Monticello; audio production by Ian Keyser

Photos: Courtesy of LOS ÚLTIMOS FRIKIS; Ernesto Mastrascusa/EFE/Newscom; Yander Zamora/EFE/Newscom; Marcelo Montecino, CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), via Wikimedia Commons

libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
nicholas brennan
,
justin monticello
,
los ultimos frikis
,
cuba
,
rock music
,
fidel castro
,
communism
,
political freedom
    Thumbnail for The Fake Environmentalist Attack on Bitcoin6:47
    The Fake Environmentalist Attack on Bitcoin
    ReasonVids
    1067 views
    Thumbnail for Based Girl on Omegle2:56
    Based Girl on Omegle
    AOU
    3007 views
    Thumbnail for CATO's David Boaz on What America Can (and Shouldn't) Learn From the French Revolution6:49
    CATO's David Boaz on What America Can (and Shouldn't) Learn From the French Revolution
    ReasonVids
    868 views
    Thumbnail for the loneliest block ever. | camman180:38
    the loneliest block ever. | camman18
    invidious
    114 views
    Thumbnail for How to Fix Air Conditioner Blowing Hot Air | Genius Asian6:46
    How to Fix Air Conditioner Blowing Hot Air | Genius Asian
    invidious
    489 views
    Thumbnail for 12 Years to Disaster? How Climate Activists Distort the Evidence13:23
    12 Years to Disaster? How Climate Activists Distort the Evidence
    ReasonVids
    898 views
    Thumbnail for Jew High School0:16
    Jew High School
    bestofupgoat
    43 views
    Thumbnail for Will Robots Take All the Jobs?4:04
    Will Robots Take All the Jobs?
    ReasonVids
    883 views
    Thumbnail for Shooting the MG-34 and MG-427:41
    Shooting the MG-34 and MG-42
    bestofvoatxyz
    486 views
    Thumbnail for Eric Garner Protesters Shut Down West Side Highway2:53
    Eric Garner Protesters Shut Down West Side Highway
    ReasonVids
    890 views
    Thumbnail for Three Ways Parents are Ruining Halloween3:17
    Three Ways Parents are Ruining Halloween
    ReasonVids
    856 views
    Thumbnail for Shrieking melodramatic yids in NYC do... this 0:38
    Shrieking melodramatic yids in NYC do... this
    bestofupgoat
    399 views
    Thumbnail for PORTLAND, OREGON:  Far-left extremist university professor physically assaults flag-waving Proud Boys, gets pinned down by Proud Girl.1:53
    PORTLAND, OREGON: Far-left extremist university professor physically assaults flag-waving Proud Boys, gets pinned down by Proud Girl.
    AOU
    16236 views
    Thumbnail for In Defense of Roe3:58
    In Defense of Roe
    ReasonVids
    896 views
    Thumbnail for Legal Weed Did More to Stop Drug Smuggling Than Any Wall10:17
    Legal Weed Did More to Stop Drug Smuggling Than Any Wall
    ReasonVids
    946 views
    Thumbnail for Sometimes the feet just follow the music.1:05
    Sometimes the feet just follow the music.
    bestofupgoat
    93 views
    Thumbnail for Entrepreneurs Challenge Unconstitutional Ferry Monopoly on Lake Chelan2:11
    Entrepreneurs Challenge Unconstitutional Ferry Monopoly on Lake Chelan
    IJvids
    910 views
    Thumbnail for Wheat, Weed, and ObamaCare: How the Commerce Clause Made Congress All-Powerful10:06
    Wheat, Weed, and ObamaCare: How the Commerce Clause Made Congress All-Powerful
    ReasonVids
    999 views
    Thumbnail for Missile spotted in Beirut, Lebanon. Hand rubbing intensifies.0:22
    Missile spotted in Beirut, Lebanon. Hand rubbing intensifies.
    AOU
    1737 views
    Thumbnail for Dave Rubin's Political Awakening26:51
    Dave Rubin's Political Awakening
    ReasonVids
    898 views
    Thumbnail for Occupy vs. DNC: Are Dems Crony Capitalists?3:06
    Occupy vs. DNC: Are Dems Crony Capitalists?
    ReasonVids
    982 views
    Thumbnail for Are Education Savings Accounts the Future of School Choice?5:26
    Are Education Savings Accounts the Future of School Choice?
    ReasonVids
    982 views
    Thumbnail for Police: If You're Carrying Condoms, You Might Be a Hooker (Don't cops have better things to do?!)1:46
    Police: If You're Carrying Condoms, You Might Be a Hooker (Don't cops have better things to do?!)
    ReasonVids
    930 views
    Thumbnail for Drew Drechsel Tackles the National Finals Stage 3 | American Ninja Warrior5:04
    Drew Drechsel Tackles the National Finals Stage 3 | American Ninja Warrior
    ninjawarrior
    1024 views
    Thumbnail for our governments open border policy has allowed drug smugglers and human traffickers free reign over our border and into our nation1:21
    our governments open border policy has allowed drug smugglers and human traffickers free reign over our border and into our nation
    bestofupgoat
    391 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
nicholas brennan
,
justin monticello
,
los ultimos frikis
,
cuba
,
rock music
,
fidel castro
,
communism
,
political freedom
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle