Show: Gogol Bordello
Date: October 8, 2013
Venue: Fonda Theatre
City: Los Angeles, CA
Gogol Bordello
Photos by Nicolas Bates
Written by Dan Sinclair
Though this writer has been battling a nasty cough and felt like shit for a little over a week, that’s no excuse to miss Gogol Bordello playing the second of three sold-out nights here at Hollywood’s beautiful Fonda Theatre. No, sir, he shall battle through the phlegm and hacking to bear witness to the wonder that is Mr. Eugene Hutz and his fantastic band of gypsy punks. If only the Fonda had tea. Damnit, Fonda. Why the hell don’t you have tea?
Prior to Gogol Bordello, there were plenty of pseudo-Russian accents flying around among the restless crowd. They danced, they clapped and they chanted for their favorite band to come play for them. “Gogol! Gogol! Gogol!”
And before long, that very diverse band of gypsies comes out one by one starting with guitarist Michael Ward and drummer Oliver Charles. Next out come the accordionist from Belarus, Pasha Newmar and the Russian fiddler Sergey Ryabtsev, followed by Ethiopian bassist Thomas “Tommy T” Gobena, Ecuadorian percussionist/emcee Pedro Erazo and dancer/percussionist/backing vocalist and sole female member of the pack from China by way of Scotland, Elizabeth Sun. The crowd claps along as Gogol Bordello gets them to chant, “Hey! Hey! Hey!” And finally the charismatic frontman and co-star of the film Everything Is Illuminated, Ukrainian-born Eugene Hutz comes out to the loudest cheers of the night, which leads right into the first song, “Ultimate,” which leads to “Not a Crime,” which eventually becomes “Wonderlust King.”
And the energy inside the Fonda between both band performing and adoring fans who came to see them could send rockets to fucking Pluto and back several times over. Wait, is Pluto even real anymore? I forget. Doesn’t matter. My point is that the energy is beyond crazy with the whole crowd jumping up and down, dancing, singing along… and that’s nothing compared to what Gogol does on stage. Every member of the band acts as if this is the most important song they’ve ever played in their life… on every single song.
The band is touring in support of their latest album, Pura Vida Conspiracy, so next they play a couple new tracks off of it with “The Other Side of Rainbow” and the perfect balance between slow, melodic gypsy music and super-fast thrashing punk rock in “Dig Deep Enough” and the crowd doesn’t stop moving.
Hutz plays acoustic guitar alone for “My Companjera” for a while before Sun gives him some support by playing the tambourine off her chest and slowly but surely the rest of the musicians join in, all asking, “Where are you now, my companjera?” louder and louder each time.
They follow that up with one of my favorites “Trans-Continental Hustle,” and I think the Fonda is about to explode. But it doesn’t. Instead Gogol Bordello keeps on shining on stage with “Immigraniada (We Comin’ Rougher),” “Break the Spell,” “When Universes Collide,” “My Gypsy Auto Pilot” and “Pala Tute.” It’s like one non-stop fucking party.
It’s pretty amazing and my sick ass is happy to be in the back, not on the dance floor right now as I surely would’ve been mauled… or at the very least wrote notes in poor penmanship. Hutz loves visiting Los Angeles and appreciates the consistent enthusiasm: “Thank you, L.A., every fucking time, yo!”
Now, we knew it was coming, but I’m not sure all of Hollywood was aware. If anyone was sleeping within a few miles of Hollywood and Vine when Eugene Hutz started singing, “Start Wearing Purple,” they certainly didn’t stay that way when the adrenaline-fueled crowd all screamed and sang along. Some probably even banged on their neighbor’s wall, yelling to keep the noise down. But they didn’t. They all just sang louder. And Hutz rewarded the participation by opening a bottle of red wine and dousing the crowd with it.
Gogol Bordello closed out the set with “Sacred Darling,” where Hutz took the time to introduce each member of the band and individually showcase their musical talents. After a brief break, Gogol played a brilliant five-song encore of “Lost Innocent World,” “Think Locally, Fuck Globally,” “I Just Realized,” “Misthto!” and the mesmerizing “We Shall Sail.”
If you’ve never seen Gogol Bordello live, you yourself have not lived and that, my friends, is a motherfucking fact. From the energy to the showmanship to the lovely smorgasbord of masterfully played instruments, there really is nothing quite like it. Go see them when they come to your town. If you don’t, just pluck out your eyeballs and stab your eardrums with rusty daggers because you really don’t have the right to see or hear anymore.