Sabina, Adams Liven Up Rainy-Season Doldrums

The rainy season, now drawing to a close, is definitely on the dry side in terms of juicy celebrity gossip.

However, a few musicians relieved the tedium this month by playing on Tico soil.

What do you get when you throw President Oscar Arias into a massive gymnasium full of hyped-up university students who hate him? A Joaquín Sabina concert, apparently. When the Spanish songsmith hit the Palacio de los Deportes in Heredia, north of San José, Nov. 8, Arias showed up to watch. The crowd, largely made up of young people, greeted him with chants of “No al TLC” (a reference to the controversial trade pact with the United States that Arias backs), “Hijueputa” (“Son of a bitch”) and “¡Fuera!” (“Get out!”). The President, sitting in the concrete bleachers – flanked by companions unidentifiable from Star Watch’s nosebleed seat – appeared unfazed. Sabina, 57, master of the spoken, sung and written word, sidestepped politics during his show (as well as at least one brassiere tossed by an eager female fan), saying only that he was honored by Arias’ presence. But what a difference a generation makes; two nights later in the same place, Arias received a warm ovation from the more seasoned crowd at a concert by crooner José Luis Perales, also of Spain, according to the daily La Nación.

Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams flew into Liberia, capital of the northwestern province of Guanacaste, Oct. 30 to give a private concert for a U.S. businessman at the Four Seasons resort, according to the daily Al Día. The 80-year-old host, whom the daily identified only by the last name of Simons, reportedly flew in his guests on five private jets