To
celebrate the release of The Shroud of Touring: Live in 1985, an album
of vintage live recordings, the influential 1980s power pop band the Bongos has
reunited to play a handful of rare shows—and one of them will be at the Bearsville Theater on May 30.
Emerging
from Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1980 and led by singer-songwriter Richard Barone, the
Bongos unleashed a run of fantastic singles on British label Fetish Records: “Telephoto
Lens,” “In the Congo,” “The Bulrushes,” “Zebra Club,” and “Mambo Sun,” all of which
would appear on their classic 1982 album, Drums Along the Hudson.
The
band, which features bassist and Accord resident Rob Norris, made their
major-label debut with 1985’s Numbers with Wings, whose title cut became
an MTV hit. The Shroud of Touring was recorded that year at a torrid concert
in Sea Bright, New Jersey, and finds the band at the height of their mid-’80s
live powers, blasting through the above favorites and more with pure fervor.
The
Bongos will perform at the Bearsville Theater in Bearsville on May 30 at 7pm.
The Steve Almaas Selection will open. Tickets are $26.15.
This article appears in Spring/Summer 2025.
