Your New Secret live in Redwood Shores
Many, many moons ago I worked at a great company called Bechtel Corporation. During my ten years at Bechtel I travelled the world, including a one year stint in Kuwait after Gulf War I.
The lasting legacy of my time at Bechtel are the many friends I made there. Unfortunately I don’t get to catch up with them very often but occasionally a chance crops up and I seize it. This week not one but two chances presented themselves. My first meeting was with Danny Jones. I worked with Danny in Kuwait in ’92. I can’t do justice to Danny’s resume and world-traveling escapades here (such as the time he was in Falujah when the bombs started dropping) but it was great to catch up with him over lunch.
My second encounter was with Tommy Bombon. I love the fact that although we have’t seen each other for a dozen years, we can pick up like it was yesterday. Tommy comes from the Philippines but has been in the Bay Area since he was 17. Back in the early 90’s Tommy spent five months at the Hammersmith office of Bechtel in London and we became good friends. Despite being separated by the Atlantic we kept in touch and saw each other regularly – usually on my business trips to San Francisco. In the mid 90’s Tommy went over to the UK with his family and I met his (then) wife and his young sons, Russel and Mike. That was (I think) the last time I saw him until this week when a chance discovery on Facebook reconnected us.
So what has this got to do with “Your New Secret”, and what is “Your New Secret”? Well…Tommy has always been interested in photography and recently formed AtomicBee Productions to showcase his work and (maybe) to start a second (or is it third?) career. Many of the videos he’s created are for the a couple of bands, the most recent being Your New Secret. The common element in those bands is the lead guitarist and lead vocalist – none other than Mike Bombon, Tommy’s son who has grown up quite a bit since I met him in London.
Putting all these things together led me last night to the pool patio of the Sofitel Redwood Shores to meet Tommy who was there filming YNS performing an acoustic set for a private party. Mike and the guys performed four songs (which I’m sure will be up on their and Tommy’s websites soon). If you can’t wait, check out my feeble attempt below (sorry for the terrible quality – this was my first attempt to use the QIK live streaming software in my iPhone).
A beautiful, warm evening under the setting California sun was finished off by a great thai meal with Tommy before I headed up to SFO for the red-eye back to Miami and home.
Thanks to Tommy, Mike and the rest of the band for a great evening. Hopefully my next trip to Santa Clara in a few weeks will give me the chance to meet Tommy’s wife Cat and daughter Sophie and to sample some wonderful Filipino home cooking.