The spirit of rock unites La Union and The Phantom Crows
Bassist Luis Bolin is with his
A few years ago, Luis Bolin, bassist and one of the founders of the Spanish rock en espanol band, La Union, had a gig at a club in Fontana, California. But his musicians never arrived. So, he spoke with Sergio Bedolla—whose band, The Phantom Crows, was opening the show—to ask him for the unthinkable.
“[Luis] said to us, 'What's up? Well, let's get up together, right?' And I said, 'How come, we haven't rehearsed at all,'” Sergio said. “Were we going to play with La Union without having rehearsed at all?”
That was exactly the proposal from Bolin, a musician and singer with 40 years of experience whose group was immortalized in rock history with “Lobo hombre en Paris,” a song inspired by a French story.
The very afternoon before the show, Luis taught the Phantom Crows how to play La Union's songs, which were fourteen and which came out “pretty well,” Sergio said.
“It came out as if we had rehearsed,” Sergio said. "Luis gave us some ideas to make it faster, and we managed to get the show done."
Since then, Luis refers to the Phantoms as "my band from here," or from the United States. This is because, despite calling himself a band, he's actually the only member of La Union who tours. Officially, the band disbanded in 2020 due to differences between its three members.
However, this is the second leg of The Showcase Tour 2025, a tour that Luis is doing through several cities on the West Coast - including Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas - accompanied by the Phantoms, a group founded ten years ago in Orange County, California, and led by Sergio.
"We came here eager to give it our all," Luis said, adding that the first leg of their tour, which was in March, was very successful and it is possible that more dates will be added on both the West and East coasts, although he did not offer details.
What is already a fact is that Luis and the Phantoms will perform in several cities for the first time, such as San Jose, California, and Phoenix, Arizona.
Luis commented that he decided to come to America when he realized there was an “enormous affection” from the people for his band. But things aren't usually easy when you belong to a record label since things “have to be a certain way.” That caused, he said, that La Union didn't visit the United States for at least two decades.
“So I said, 'well, look, I'll carry my guitar on my back and it's with my guitar that I travel,'” said the bassist. “I said, 'I'm going with my guitar and I'm going to play the songs that I wrote, the songs that will accompany me my whole life.'”
Only along the way, he met the Phantoms and they've been a team for ten years.
The shows on this tour include songs from both bands. In the case of Phantom, songs from their most recent album, "Amor Serpiente," and in Luis's case, "Uno—Greatest hits. Wild version," which are reworked La Union hits plus "Luna fille en Paris," a song Luis describes as a continuation of "Lobo hombre en Paris." It also includes collaborations with Ruben Albarran of Cafe Tacuba and Santa Monica.
Luis sings all the songs and also recorded all the instruments, except for the keyboards, drums, and bass on some of the tracks. Rafael Sanchez, with whom Luis had a legal dispute a few years ago over the rights to the group, did not participate.
Whatever the case may be for La Union, Luis says that what unites Phantom, La Union, and their fans is rock.
"That's really the spirit that brings us here," said Luis. “
In Detail
What: La Union and The Phantom Crows