By DONNA BALANCIA
The anticipated return of The Bomboras lived up to expectations as the outrageous surf-style band from the 1990s brought its wild stage show to the Union for Mondo Hollywood.
There were plenty of bands on hand for the Labor Day Weekend festival that celebrates everything garage and punk, with beautiful burlesque performers added into the mix.
A range of legendary and well-regarded garage punkers piled on for the event held at the large Pico Blvd. venue, including Saturday headliners Guana Batz and The Pharoahs and Sunday’s toppers Detroit Cobras.
The Bomboras reunited for the first time in 20 years on U.S. soil and it was too long for this well-loved band. Known for their rapid-fire surf guitar, bass, drums and organ that spin your head off your body, The Bomboras brought laughs and surprises to the packed house.
Read The CaliforniaRocker.com Interview with The Bomboras
Dressed in Mexican skeleton garb, with day-glo white paint and gigantic sombreros, The Bomboras had a chance to play a lot of their favorites, including “Land of The 1 Percenters,” “War of The Satellites,” and opener “Pier 13.”
In all, the band is tight and together, making all the fans wonder why they ever went away. The guys are living different lives as revealed in an earlier story.
It was always legendary music lore that The Bomboras did some pretty crazy stuff during their live performance, and Jake Cavaliere lived up to that when he lit his keyboard on fire Sunday night. Fans talked about the days when during the heyday, The Bomboras had dancing girls and even an on-stage makeshift gallows.
But leading up to the great set were some other great performance bands that brought the fans, including San Diego’s favorites, The Schizophonics and The Richmond Sluts from the bay area.
Downstairs in the Jewels Room on Saturday night, the crowd was treated to burlesque featuring some talented artists and bands like Deadbolt, which caused a lot of sparks.
Check out the photos:
