In the midst of Gogol Bordello’s otherwise raucous set at the Majestic Ventura Theater, Eugene Hütz took a moment to acknowledge the band’s relationship with the state of California. After all, this Casa Gogol Tour marked the first time the eclectic gypsy punk outfit had ventured this far west since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the band’s roots in the still-vibrant New York City music scene, who could blame it?
But Eugene made clear that he wouldn’t take the anti-California bait from his group’s East Coast supporters. Instead, as in all things, the Gogol frontman recounted his own defiance in the face of those who questioned his band’s decision to venture back out to the Golden State. The audience’s gratitude for that attitude could not have been lost on Eugene and his merry band of international misfits. For more than two hours, Venturans danced, rocked, jumped, moshed, and crowdsurfed to the frenetic energy that Hutz, Pedro Erazo, Sergey Ryabtsev, and their ever-evolving lineup brought in spades to the 1,200-person venue just three blocks from the beach.
After opening sets from Casa Gogol Records signees Grace Bergere and Mary Shelley—the latter of which featured a cameo from Hutz—Gogol Bordello stormed out by digging all the way back to its debut album, 1999’s Voi-La Intruder, for “Sacred Darling”. The band promptly jumped up in time with a slew of tracks from its seminal record, 2005’s Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike, including “I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again”, “Not a Crime”, and “Immigrant Punk”.
From there, Gogol gave voice to 2007’s Super Taranta! by way of “Wanderlust King” and “Suddenly… (I Miss Carpaty)”, with “My Companjera” from 2010’s Trans-Continental Hustle sandwiched in between.
It wasn’t until the midpoint of the set that Gogol started pulling from its latest new release, 2022’s Solidaritine. The band invited Puzzled Panther—another Casa Gogol act from New York City—to assist with “Fire on Ice Floe” and “Focus Coin”, as well as “From Boyarka to Boyaka”, a song honoring the oft-surprising links between Eastern Europe and Latin America. That theme of global links (a common one for Gogol) continued with “Trans-Continental Hustle” and “Immigraniada”. Eugene and his cohort then paid homage to the late Steve Albini with a hard-rocking rendition of “Mishto”.
It wouldn’t have been a proper Gogol show without “Start Wearing Purple”. In this case, Gogol Bordello banged out its star-making anthem before closing out the main set with the similarly-energizing “Pala Tute”.
For the encore, Gogol burst back out with a pair of punk covers: “Bodies” by Sex Pistols and “Victim in Pain” by Agnostic Front. The rest of the band then briefly left the stage while Eugene serenaded the audience with a solo opening bit to “Alcohol”. His ‘mates soon rejoined him for the rest of the song, and stuck around for one last cover—Angelic Upstarts’ “Solidarity”—to finish the night.
Across that entire collection of songs, Gogol brought its characteristically infectious energy to bear on every moment. Eugene, in particular, was his usual, uncontainable self. He danced with and without guitars, climbed on the sides of the stage, sweated through his shirt before tossing it and, at one point, sprayed the crowd with red wine.
By the end of the night, the entire theater had been transformed into a giant sweatbox. The mass of moshers seemed spent, just as Eugene intended, but not before giving Gogol Bordello every bit of validation for coming back to California.
The band will wrap up its West Coast swing with shows in Berkeley, Las Vegas, and at BottleRock in Napa before gearing up for a summer tour across Europe. With any luck, though, Gogol will have seen enough energy and enthusiasm from the California crowds to return to the state before too long.
Gogol Bordello — “Sacred Darling” — 5/21/24
[Video: Ayden Noland]
Gogol Bordello — “Suddenly… (I Miss Carpaty)” — 5/21/24
[Video: Ayden Noland]
The post Gogol Bordello Brings Gypsy Punk From NYC To Majestic Ventura Theater [Photos/Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
