BélO in Concert

On Friday night I went to see BélO at the Hotel Montana.  Before the fall of Duvalier, the Hotel Montana was a posh spot for Haiti's chic social set to mingle.  But the Montana mirrored the rest of Haiti went into a slow decline after the coup de tête of 1986 until it finally collapsed along with the majority of Port-au-Prince, on January 12.  This is what the Montana looked like after the catastrophe of 2010.

If only we hadn't bought volcano insurance! (Oh wait, we DID get earthquake insurance.  Thank God. Can we have our money now?)

Despite the tragedy and the difficulties in processing their claims, the hotel has begun rebuilding.  It's not where it was, but it still has tremendous potential.  Take a look at some of these amazing vistas.

Of course this was before the earthquake, but still!

This was the second time I saw BélO in concert.  The first time I went I saw him at Garden Studio in Pétionville.  I went with a friend who is Haitian who also happens to know him, which meant I got in free.  He played his set and then we got to see his new videos "Kote moun yo" (Where are the people) and "Mdamou" (I'm in love).  I preferred the first one to the second, but as usual, he put on a great show.  The crowd was enthusiastic and toward the end almost everyone was dancing.  The most pleasantly surprising part of his performance however, was the little Haitian flag he prominently displayed throughout his set.  It's the first time I've seen the Haitian flag displayed for purely patriotic reasons by an individual citizen.  Now I grant you that BélO is no ordinary Haitian, but in a country short on governance, civil society, resources, and jobs, a little patriotism can spark the first flame of national renaissance: hope

BélO at Garden Studio