Bombasta debuts eclectic sound with concert on Saturday at Cine El Rey

When San Antonio-based Bombasta takes the stage at the historic Cine El Rey on Saturday, June 30, the audience will experience an organic mix of explosive and soothing sounds that will have them tapping their feet to duos of turntables and timbales, accordions and horns, drums and congas.

The nine-man band will bring its unique “Bomba stilo” sound, a fusion of Latin funk sounds tempered with a little bit of reggae, soul, hip-hop, jazz, cumbias, and jams flowing with both English and Spanish lyrics. It will be Bombasta’s first gig in the Rio Grande Valley.

The band is fronted by 32-year-old Roberto Ybañez Livar, intermittently jamming on accordion and guitar when he’s spinning the turntables. He is joined by timbales player Jai López, a native of the island of St. Croix, and guitarist Carlos Treviño, who’s also played with the band Lila Downs. The band includes a four-man horn section, drums and bass.

Bombasta has also shared the stage with Del Castillo, Grupo Fantasma, Thomas Mapfumo, of Zimbabwe, and Kinky.

The accolades have been piling on for Bombasta, which was labeled recently as one of the best jazz band in San Antonio and one of the top hip-hop acts in Austin, but band members know theirs is a difficult band to classify musically.

“It’s hard for us to place in those polls because we don’t fit into any category easily,” Livar said. “But we’re more honored to be participating in immigrant rights marches to try to energize people within this movement. That’s really where we find our badge of honor.”

The band brands itself as “sparking an uprising” wherever they travel and hopes to promote the concert, in part, as a protest against the proposed border wall during their first visit to the Rio Grande Valley.

Livar, the group’s main songwriter, grew up in the famed Southside of San Antonio, where he was exposed to a wide array of music. His parents introduced him to the likes of Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, Santana, and Jimi Hendrix and his grandparents to cumbias and the tropical big bands of their own generation. As a product of the 1980s and early 1990s, Livar also learned to love alternative music and hip-hop then got interested in the reggae stylings of Bob Marley—and addiction from which he has no intention of weaning himself.

“Of course, we have Latino roots and the lyrical contents of that music, but we also draw on the history of black music, soul, rock, hip-hop,” Livar said. “We’re blessed to have a rich musical heritage from both sides of the border, both the Latino element of music and culture and the rhythm and blues and soul. We’re trying to create something new and different from our own perspective.”

The core members of Bombasta formed in 2004 and Livar said Bombasta is a group of accomplished musicians, which helps them read the vibe of a crowd and keep the groove “especially when the crowd’s feeling it and dancing,” he said.

As for the band’s name, Livar said, he heard someone say a similar word and it struck a chord.

“I just marinated on it a little bit: it kind of sounded like bomba and Rasta,” he said.

The word “captured a good representation of what we’re trying to get across”: an explosive sound flavored in part by Rastafarian music—reggae.

Copies of Bombasta’s “Ill Movimiento,” a six-track EP will be available for purchase during the band’s concert at Cine El Rey, on June 30 located at 311 S. 17th Street, in McAllen. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $10, $15 and $25 and can be purchased at the box office from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information call 956-971-9829 or visit www.cineelrey.com or www.bombasta.com.

Cine El Rey, opened in 1947 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, has been putting on some incredible shows since remodeling. With just under 500 seats, every seat is a good one. We now serve light food, beer and wine. These shows make for a great night out.

The Mother Truckers were voted the "Best Roots Rock Band" for 2006-2007.

Doors open at 7 p.m.
Box Office: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Phone: (956) 971-9829
Tickets: $40 VIP
$20 Floor
$10 Mezzanine