Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Review: The Gipsy Kings at Mountain Winery

When we discovered that one of Inna's favorite groups - The Gipsy Kings - was playing nearby in Saratoga at the Mountain Winery, we had to see them. I could not find excellent seats - they were all sold out beforehand. However, the Mountain Winery's setting is relatively small, so I hoped we would still enjoy the band.


This was Gipsy King's 25th Anniversary Tour - I didn't realize they played for so long. The last time I saw them in concert was in 1999 or 2000 (before I knew who they were).

The drive to the Mountain Winery was not long - about 30 minutes - but parking there took some time, and we did not like being charged $20 to park.

The show was scheduled to start at 7:30pm. At 7:30pm, another band (made up of the sons of Gipsy Kings) started playing several of Gipsy Kings' favorites. They played for 30 minutes (until about 8:00pm).






The Gipsy Kings finally emerged on stage around 8:15pm and started their set. They played all their favorites, including:
  • Djobi Djoba
  • Bamboleo (means swaying in Spanish)
  • Un Amor
  • Volare


According to Wikipedia:
The Gipsy Kings is a group of musicians from Arles and Montpellier in the south of France who perform in Spanish with an Andalusian accent. Although group members were born in France, their parents were mostly gitanosSpanish Romani people who fled Catalonia during the 1930s Spanish Civil War.
Gipsy Kings are members of two related families: the Reyes (Kings in Spanish) and the Baliardos. Nicolas, Canut, Paul, Andre and Patchai Reyes are sons of the flamenco singer Jose Reyes. The Gipsy Kings are:
  • Paul Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
  • François "Canut" Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
  • Patchai Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
  • André Reyes: backup vocals, guitara
  • Diego Baliardo: guitar
  • Paco Baliardo: guitar
Here is a short video clip I shot of the concert:

The concert ended around 9:30pm, after one encore.


I especially liked Gipsy King's "Bamboleo." Here is a short video clip of this song:


We enjoyed the concert and especially being in the open on a warm summer night! Lots of people were dancing and having a good time.

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