rock music has risen in the island. The 21st century In 2001, the Welsh group Manic Street Preachers was invited to perform in Cuba, and Fidel Castro attended its concert along with other government authorities. In 2004, Castro gave a speech honoring the Birthday of John Lennon, whose music, as a member of the Beatles and as a soloist was banned in Cuba for a very long time. A bronze statue of Lennon was placed in a well known Havana park, which is now known as John Lennon Park. At the same time that the government was showing a more indulgent attitude toward the foreign rock groups, as part of an international campaign which purpose was to achieve an opening in the commercial transactions and investments of the US and Europe in Cuba, it continued to implement an inflexible repression against any form of internal dissidence. This was the case of the rocker Gorki Águila and his group Porno para Ricardo. In August 2008, Águila was arrested under charges of dangerousness, a law that allows the authorities to detain people whom they think are likely to commit crimes; even when they have not yet committed them. More recently, Rick Wakeman, Sepultura and Audioslave performed in Havana, and The Rolling Stones offered a historic concert that has become the most outstanding rock event since the beginning of the Revolutionary period in 1959. Their concert was commemorated in the film Havana Moon. A new phenomenon occurred in 2013 when several Cuban underground metal bands begin to emigrate to the United States, creating a parallel scene with the bands Agonizer, Escape, Ancestor, Hipnosis, Suffering Tool and Chlover. Rock festivals in Cuba Several rock festivals have taken place throughout Cuba. Festival Ciudad-Metal (Santa Clara) Festival Caiman Rock de Ciudad de La Habana (Havana) Festival Ciudad Junto al Mar (Cienfuegos) Festival Rockasol (Cienfuegos) Festival Metal HG (Holguín) Festival Rock de la Loma (Bayamo) Festival Pinar-Fest (Pinar del Río) Festival Rey Metal (Pinar del Río) Festival Atenas Rock (Matanzas) Festín de Zeus (Havana) Festival Rock del Río (San Antonio de los Baños, Havana) 6.6.6 FEST (Havana) Brutal Fest (Havana) See also Music of Cuba References External links "Quantum: Cuba’s Sound Warriors" by Irina Echarry, Havana Times, July 20, 2009 Cuban styles of music Music scenes Rock music by country