CALIFORNIA ROCK NEWS

By Alex Kluft

The Gipsy Kings Ft. Nicolas Reyes performed at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, CA Saturday night (8/9) with an opening set from Amber Rubarth. Most recently Reyes played the Greek 8/12/23. At one point it was an annual tradition, the Gipsy Kings played the Greek towards the end of summer. The group was formed by the Reyes and Baliardo families back in 1978 in France, however their music is mostly sung in Catalan and is made up of Flamenco and Rumba as their parents came from Spain in the 1930’s during the Spanish Civil War. The Gipsy Kings are the group responsible for bringing rumba flamenca to a global audience. Since 1982 the group has released 13 albums. Reyes, known for his iconic voice, was a co-founder and the lead singer of the group and now performs with a new group. Reyes, now 66 still sounds incredible and has quite a group backing him. The band consists of four guitarists, three of which also handle backing vocals and lead at times, drums, bass, and keyboards. The setlist included iconic Gipsy Kings songs like “Bamboleo,” “Volare” (originally recorded in 1958 by Domenico Modugno), “Djobi djoba,” “Un Amor,” and their famous cover of the Eagles’ “Hotel California.” Gipsy Kings have had songs featured in The Big Lebowski (Hotel California), Toy Story 3 (Spanish version of You’ve Got a Friend in Me), and Sing (Bamboleo). It was an incredible evening of music and dancing  under a full moon at the historic Greek Theater. Just a year ago, Reyes released his memoir Becoming a King available through his website. The U.S. tour continues through August 24th in Saratoga, CA and one show in Downers Grove, IL September 12th before playing Greece, Belgium, Netherlands, and Canada. The tour returns to the U.S. October 12th in Montclair, NJ through October 24th in Providence, RI. The last shows for the year take place in Albuquerque, NM December 5th and Chandler, AZ December 6th. So far there are six shows set for the U.K. next year.