Rolling Stones and U2 in Argentina · Global Voices
Jorge Gobbi

The most commented-upon issues of the moment in Argentinean blogs are music related; in the same week The Rolling Stones and U2 visited this country to perform two shows, each band. And, of course, there was a big number of blogs that reconstructed what happened during the shows.
On the Rolling Stones side, at El Futuro ya llegó (ES) the show's quality was emphasized from the band's fan point of view. At Professor London Boy (ES), Blog de Manux (ES), and Alejandrita (ES) a similar outlook was given, the one of the excited fan, which is also easy to find in the general media.
Some blogs brought up the subject of the incidents that occured during the hours before the show, carried out by people who wanted to get into the stadium without paying. Pescado Rabioso (ES), and Intervoz (ES). We have to remember that on the first show, almost 5 thousand people managed to get in without paying, by overpassing the control gates.
At Eroticus (ES), on the other hand, two perspectives on the Stones gig can be found: Rodrigo Fresan's from the daily Pagina/12 and the Pablo Schanton's of El Clarin. Despite the fact that the blogosphere is usually seen as a ground were criticism easily appears, it was quite hard to track down any alternative outlooks on the last weeks shows and this applies to the Rolling Stones and U2 as well. The prevailing view was the one of the fan, a view that has excitement and happiness as virtue, but which many times don't leave too original reflections.
And this despite the fact that Argentina has a rich tradition linked to The Rolling Stones, to the point of the existence of a street gang known as the “Stones” or “Rolingas” – a bastardization of the term “Rolling” – characterized not only for the dress code but for following band loyal to Jagger and Richard's band sound, such as Ratones Paranoicos or the 25.
U2 shows motivated more diverse reactions, particularly from journalists who work or have worked in the Argentinean news media. Eduardo Fabregat spoke quite well about the show at his blog Pan y Circo (ES), although he showed some complaints about political ideology at the show (Bono sporting a jacket with the Argentinean flag at the beginning of the show and the press conference with Argentina's president Kirchner). Marcelo Figueras opts to remember the songs and keeps all emphasis in political issues out. At Korochi (ES) a more ironic view was offered.
Outside the agenda
Aside from the agenda's main topic, linked to U2 and The Rolling Stones visits, there were several interesting posts on other Argentinean blogs. Roberto Gargarella of TP (ES) criticizes the recent sanction to modify the Consejo de la Magistratura, and the lack of attention to the opposition's critics. Marcos complains about blogs that only repeat the content of other blogs. He also launches a forum in Spanish for WordPress users. Mariano Amartino analyzes the recent “scandal” between blogs and FON. Franco Giménez wonders what to do when someone asks you for proffesional advice about a website. Irene Fernández talks about the relationship between blogs and gender.