The Gypsy Kings flamenco style rock has crowded dance floors since the eighties. Tonight at Wolf Trap they were joined by special guest Ole’ Noys, which is comprised of the sons of the Gypsy Kings, on their first wold tour. Let’s rumba!
The Gypsy Kings unique blend of music spans multiple cultures. I always admired their use of flamenco guitar. There were many family gatherings when I was younger where The Gypsy Kings was played all night long. With that said, this particular concert was not their best performance. They had obvious sound issues for most of the show. It was so bad Tonino Baliardo walked off the stage in the middle of a guitar solo during “Bamboleo” because of his guitar. It could have been attributed to the humidity, but it sounded way out of tune for certain chords. Nicolas Reyes made a point after the concert to emphasize how much he loves his fans. It felt like he was apologizing for the performance.
I’m sure they did a sound check, but I think it would have helped if another one was performed prior to them playing. This made them have to do a sound check on the fly. Once the Gypsy Kings started playing I could see singer Nicolas Reyes pointing to his microphone to increase the volume. Stage hands roamed on and off stage exchanging guitars. I’m not saying they sounding bad but there were noticeable technical difficulties.
The great thing about it was nobody seemed to care. A Gypsy Kings concert is worth the price of admission for the atmosphere alone. The audience was fantastic! They were energetic and loved to dance! A couple of women even made it on stage to dance.
The highlight of this concert was the opening act Ole’ Noys. On their first world tour, they sounded great! The group members are the sons of Toninno Baliardo and Nicolas Reyes: Mickael Baliardo, Cosso Baliardo and Yohan Reyes. Their sound is a mix of traditional flamenco and contemporary rock, just like The Gypsy Kings. They did a Lionel Richie cover “All Night Long” that was enjoyable. Yohan Reyes also performed with The Gypsy Kings’ “Volare” as an encore. He sounds just like his dad.
All in all, this was fun – not The Gypsy Kings’ best performance, but still good. Tonino was still able to play the guitar solos even though certain chords were way off. Everything else was fine. It was a good time.
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