Gogol Bordello – Live in Vancouver (11/21/15)

Despite being around for several years beforehand, I – like many others – first discovered Gogol Bordello with their breakout 2005 album, Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike. It was raw, chaotic and unlike anything else out there. A weird amalgamation of Eastern European traditional gypsy music, pumped up to the max and fronted by the charismatic Eugene Hutz.

It’s been ten years and three albums, but the New York by way of Brazil by way of Russia by way of Vancouver by way of Los Angeles band is back touring the ten year anniversary of Gypsy Punks and the album hasn’t lost its luster in the decade since its release.

Opening the night was Detroit’s Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas during their first show in Vancouver.  Playing a nearly headlining-sized set, Hernandez channeled Amy Winehouse amped up with energy. Hernandez stormed around the stage, dancing, flaying, running to and from the crowd while never letting her vocals waver. The songs were harsh love songs, a fresh take above and beyond the lovelorn pop ballads of the radio. Somehow you just can’t imagine hearing Carnie Threesome in the top 40 yet The Deltas were a breath of fresh air and an appropriate introduction to the main course of Gogol Bordello.

The nine piece band has the frenetic stage presence that one can only get from having that many members. No one stayed static. Drummers became singers. Guitarists faded into the background then jumped onto the monitors. Bassists floated around and took total dominance when the time called for it. Two members showed up during I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again to scream and dance with Eugene and continued to bounce on and off stage all night – continually coming on with new outfits and instruments. Sometimes it was washboards, sometimes it was trumpets, sometimes timpani drums and their general aura just added to the performance.

And it was a performance.

It was choreographed. Frenzied. Spastic. Eugene Hutz slowly lost more and more clothes as the night went on and bended and squirmed around like Iggy Pop only with scraggly hair covering his face. At times they had as many as four percussionists at once and Pedro Erazo almost matched Hutz in enthusiasm whenever he bounced up front to sing.

As promised, they played Gypsy Punk in its entirety – although slightly out of order. Like any regular set, they needed to put Start Wearing Purple later on in the set, but they generally kept the order on par to the album. Underground World Strike, Dogs Were Barking, Immigrant Punk, Think Locally Fuck Globally were some of the standouts.

For their encore they dove into the rest of their catalog, Wonderlust King, American Wedding, Alcohol, Pala Tute and more. It all made for a set that lasted for two hours, well into the early morning and one filled with dancing, sweating and singing by a band that who’s live energy can’t be matched.

Photos by Nick Dudar

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