Living Their Dream: Labra Brothers to Open Concert for Los Lobos

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Labra Brothers will achieve a goal Aug. 3 when they will perform as the opening act for Los Lobos, who will be in concert that night at The Music Box.

The Youngstown-based Labras have been lifelong fans of Los Lobos, an iconic and long-lived Mexican American band from Los Angeles.

Los Lobos, who have been together for five decades, are on every list of the most respected roots rock acts. But they are extra special for the Labras, who share their heritage with the act and have always loved their music.

Adrian Labra, lead singer and guitarist for the band, said Los Lobos are the “childhood heroes” of him and his siblings.

“We have followed these guys as a family for decades now, so this is really a dream come true,” he said.

For tickets to the concert, click HERE.

The Aug. 3 show will be extra special for another reason – it will be the first time that all five Labra brothers will perform together on stage as a band.

Victor Labra, the newest member, will make his debut at The Music Box. The pianist, keyboardist and percussionist will join brothers Adrian, David, Cristian and Antonio.

Victor is attending school in Columbus but is home for a while and has already jumped in with his brothers at some private shows.

Adrian said the band intends to make him a part of the act going forward whenever possible.

“He’s multitalented, and having him there gives us the luxury of moving instrumentation around to make our performance more dynamic and interesting to watch,” Adrian said.

Antonio joined the band about a year ago, and Victor will make it complete because he’s the last of the siblings.

The band also includes Danny Svenson and Matt Hayes.

As for getting on the bill with Los Lobos, Adrian said he took a chance and asked – fully prepared to be turned down.

“I’ve been following them closely my entire life,” he said. “We’d go see them as a family every chance we got, within a three- or four- or five-hour drive of Youngstown.”

He noticed Los Lobos were coming to The Music Box in May and asked venue owner Colleen Miller if she could ask them if they needed an opener. The Labras have played The Music Box in the past and are familiar with its management team.

“She said, ‘Send me some videos, and I will send them to Los Lobos’ management,’” Adrian said. “They liked the videos and approved us.”

While that might seem like a routine way of putting a show together, Adrian said it was “explosive” in The Labra Brothers’ world.

“We look up to them and love them, musically and culturally,” he said. The Mexican American Labra brothers have a shared heritage with Los Lobos.

Led by David Hidalgo, Los Lobos released their most recent album, “Native Sons,” in 2021.

The Labra Brothers are currently recording an EP that will be released in late October. The act will start releasing songs from the EP later this summer.

The next chance to catch The Labra Brothers in the Mahoning Valley will be Aug. 26 at Birdfish Brewing in Columbiana.

Pictured at top: The Labra Brothers are, seated, David, Cristian, Adrian and Antonio Labra; and standing, Danny Svenson and Matt Hayes. The fifth Labra brother, Victor, has also recently joined the band.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.