Gogol Bordello at First Avenue on 11/1/07

By: Jon Behm

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Gogol Bordello - Photo by Jon Behm

I love Eugene Hutz’s accent. When I saw Gogol Bordello on Thursday night, I badly wanted the hilarious frontman to do some lines from one of my favorite films, Everything is Illuminated, in which he plays Elijah Wood’s guide Alex.  Illuminated’s Alex is a Ukranian hip hop fan who “all the women want to become carnal with because [he] is such a premium dancer.” While Hutz in real life is much less awkward, but every bit as Ukranian as his on-screen role, I have no doubt that there were a large number of women at the First Avenue show who would love to “become carnal,” with him.

A Gogol Bordello show is a debaucherous affair. Whether Hutz is singing or conversing with the crowd, hedonism is always the topic of interest. He is fond of wearing a button that reads “Think locally, fuck globally,” and his repertoire of songs includes an homage to how much booze has helped him in life, the appropriately titled “Alcohol.” At one point on Thursday evening he told the crowd that “with so much debauchery going on, it is easy to forget how sophisticated we are,” which would be true of the band only if sophistication was something you found at the bottom of a whiskey bottle (I occasionally find it there).

Highlights of the evening included “Wanderlust King,” “Dub the Frequencies of Love,” and the band’s best known track, “Start Wearing Purple.” Before Purple, Hutz made a great show of shoving the other band members off stage before having the intro to the song stolen from him by a sneaking Thomas Gobena. Throughout the rest of the song each band member sprang back onto the stage, including Sergey Ryabtsev, who nearly stole the show with his demonic fiddle playing and pirate-like demeanor.

Though Gogol Bordello is comprised of more nationalities than a Singapore whorehouse, the distinct Eastern European flavor of their music is unmistakable. Dancing tarantellas like the Gypsies of yester yore, the audience fell under under the irresistible Kalderash spell. The charming Hütz was the perfect leader of the Gypsy punks, a charming, mustachioed Dionysus, encouraging his fans to be wild and free. Of Roma descent himself, Hutz is no poseur. He and his family wandered Eastern and Central Europe for years before settling in his permanent home of New York.  

Though I feel like I have been saying this often lately, Thursday night’s show was one of the best I have seen. The energy of the band and crowd were unparalleled, plus I have a soft spot for the accordion and drinking, especially when they go together. Gogol Bordello’s Super Taranta! has been called “the album of the decade,” by prominent music critic Robert Christgau, and they are currently touring the country like a wandering Roma Caravan. Catch them while you can - this group is poised to become much bigger than just the current hipster band du jour. 

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Location Info: First Avenue
Artist Info: Gogol Bordello

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