I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: April 7, 2016] Gogol Bordello

It was two years ago that I saw Gogol Bordello and I put them on my list of bands to see again–their live show was that much fun.  So they played two nights at Union Transfer.  I chose the first night (Thursday rather than Friday) although I’m not exactly sure why.  I think it turned out to be the right choice because Friday night’s show sold out and if my show was intense, I can’t imagine what a sold out show is like.

This show was part of their tenth anniversary tour.  Not ten years since the band formed, but ten years since their first big album, Gypsy Punks (which was recorded by Steve Albini!).  And their plan was to play that entire album, and some other songs.  I only found out about this entire album thing a few days ago.  It turns out that it’s the GB album I don’t own (I don’t own their earlier ones either), so I had to quickly scramble to see what songs were on it.  Well, it turns out that most of those songs have been played live or appeared elsewhere, so I knew a pretty good amount of them.  Phew.

They came out to roars from the crowd and they launched right into the lead off track from the album.  “Sally” features some intense screaming from one of the women in the band, and one of the women came out and supplied it for the song.  And I knew that this set was going to be a lot of fun.

Eugene explained that they were going to play every song from the album, but not in order.  And that was true.

One thing that I loved about the show last time was how democratic the band felt–people moved about the stage all the time.  So if the accordion was playing a lead, he moved to the front.  When the bassist did something cool, he came up front.  Eugene sang to the left and right and the violin is pretty much the lead instrument.

When Pamela and Elizabeth came out, they took center stage.  They also changed outfits a bunch.  When they first came out they were each wearing a Bernie Sanders/Black Flag T-shirt.  And later they each had a washboard with their names on them.  And for the big finales they had a big bass drum and cymbals to crash.

I noticed before the show started that the roadies put calf-high tables at the front of the stage so that whoever was up front could be seen better.

I believe the band is the same since I saw them last time, although they have added another woman (Pamela) and, actually their lead guitarist is new–that kind of makes sense since he was more prominent in this show.  And speaking to the immigrant and multicultural nature of the band, check out where everyone is from:

• Eugene Hütz (lead vocals, acoustic guitar) – Ukraine
• Sergey Ryabtsev (violin, backing vocals) – Russia
• Elizabeth Sun (percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance) – China/Scotland
• Pamela Racine (percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance)
• Thomas “Tommy T” Gobena (bass backing vocals) – Ethiopia
• Pedro Erazo (percussion, MC) – Ecuador
• Oliver Charles (drums) – USA
• Boris Pelekh (guitar, backing vocals) – USA
• Pasha Newmer (accordion; backing vocals) – Belarus

I mentioned the last time I saw them how the mosh pit was really intense and really big.  So I started the show in the front third of the floor–figuring I’d leave some room for a pit.  And after the first song, I knew I had to back up.  The pit was fast and intense, and there was pogoing galore.  Interestingly, after the show, I heard these guys walking back to the parking lot talking about the pit.  The one guy said that it was the coolest pit he’d ever been in–everyone was looking out for each other.  This one guy dropped his glasses and people actually stood back and helped him find them and as soon as he put them on, they instantly started dancing again.

After the third song I was already more than half way back from the stage–that’s how big the pit had become.

In addition to the intensely fast punk sections of their songs, there’s also really fun sing alongs.  I’m not even sure what the words are to most of the songs, but the chanted choruses like “Dogs Were Barking,” “Fuck Globally” and “Not a Crime” are much fun to scream out to.

And that’s also where Pedro comes in.  He’s the inciter of dancing and clapping and Hey!ing.  He’s also got a whistle and he plays the bongos.  I feel like in the previous show he had a bit more to do (he wasn’t around for the Gypsy Punks album), but he did get to rap in Spanish at one point and he sure got us to clap.

The instrumental songs are intense too.  “Mishto!” is pretty much all fiddle and accordion.  Sergey plays a lead fiddle like nobody’s business and his melodies and gravelly voice often make the song.  The other guy walking back to his car said, I don’t think I’ve ever danced in a pit to a violin before.  At one point, Sergey even hopped down onto the ground to play the violin amidst the crowd.

By “Not a Crime,” I had pretty much moved to the back of the room (I realized once again that I am just way too short–there was a guy there who was at least a foot taller than me and another guy with a mohawk that was about 8 inches high).  So I found a nook where I could see perfectly, and that was all I wanted.

When they finally got to “Start Wearing Purple” (out of album sequence) we were all waiting to sing along (la da da da da).  Sergey got a moment in the spotlight when he played the frequency of purple on the violin and then got to sing/scream “start wearing purple.”  Eugene explained that he is the craziest motherfucker in the band.

They didn’t play a lot of songs that weren’t on the record.  I was hoping for a few more, honestly.  But “Pala Tute” was a huge hit as was “Wonderlust King.”  At one point Eugene looked up at the two balconies and asked how everyone was doing.  And then he looked at everyone in the pit and said.  “Fuck those guys, we’re playing for you.”  There was much laughter and then he explained that the people on the floor were the dancers and the people upstairs were the singers, maybe.

The guys went away for one of the longest encore breaks I’ve ever witnessed.  And when they came back Eugene was wearing a Bernie Black Flag shirt and what looked like the pants of one of the women.  He played an acoustic introduction to “Alcohol.”  Before getting to the song proper, he played a pretty lengthy classical guitar solo.  I’d always known he could play but I didn’t realize he could play quite so well.

And lest I forget, Tommy T.’s bass sound is just fantastic.  He’s got the major low end responsibility for the shows, and he can play funk and dub and punk and everything else–he’s a great anchor for the band.

And, the one guy who always gets overlooked is drummer Oliver.  He never gets to come to the front except at the end.  But he’s as intense as anyone else in the band.

The band launched into “Ultimate” which has one of the fastest middle sections (it’s incredible how they can play so fast with all of those stops and starts–particularly the accordion). And everybody came out for the end of the set, making a joyful noise.  And then ended with “Undestructable,” the final song on the album.

Speaking of the democratic nature of the band.  When the show was over, Eugene moved to the side to allow the rest of the band to take the applause for a few minutes.  And even cooler, as the fans started moving out, the band stayed up on stage to shake hands with anyone who was hanging around.

Gogol Bordello are an unlikely band to have such a huge following.  They play gypsy music, they play punk with an accordion, and they sing about being immigrants.  And yet the crowd was 100% for them.

I’m fairly certain that the Friday night show will be longer (it was sold out after all), but I wasn’t disappointed for a second (except that I didn’t get home until 1:30).

Starland Ballroom, 2014	Union Transfer, 2016
Illumination	Sally
Ultimate	I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again
We Rise Again	Immigrant Punk
Wonderlust King	Avenue B
Dig Deep Enough	Oh No!
The Other Side of the Rainbow	Dogs Were Barking
My Companjera	60 Revolutions
Last One Goes the Hope	Through the Roof n Underground
Trans-Continental Hustle	Mishto!
Immigraniada (We Comin’ Rougher)	Think Locally, Fuck Globally
Mishto!	Underdog World Strike
Raise the Knowledge	Not a Crime
Malandrino	Start Wearing Purple
Start Wearing Purple	Pala Tute
Pala Tute	Wonderlust King
Sun Is on My Side	encore
Not a Crime	Alcohol
encore	Ultimate
Lost Innocent World	Undestructable
Alcohol
Think Locally, Fuck Globally