The Skinny: Gogol Bordello is a gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of New York City. Most of the group’s members are immigrants (or children of immigrants) from Eastern Europe, which influences their unique sound. Gogol Bordello formed in 1999 and has since released four albums with Rubric Records, Gypsy Punks: Underdog World is their first release from SideOneDummy Records. The band consists of Eugene Hutz (Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion, Fire Bucket), Sergey Ryabtzev (Violin, Backing Vocals), Yuri Lemeshev (Accordion, Backing Vocals), Oren Kaplan (Guitar, Backing Vocals), Karl Alvarez (Bass) Eliot Ferguson (Drums, Backing Vocals), Pamela Jintana Racine (Percussion, Backing Vocals, Dance, General Performance), and Elizabeth Sun (Percussion, Backing Vocals, Dance, General Performance). Their music is inspired by the writings of Nikolai Gogol (the band’s namesake) and Eugene Hutz on NPR acknowledged Jimi Hendrix and Parliament-Funkadelic as musical influences.

The Date & Place: 12-21-2006 at The 9:30 Club in Washington D.C.

The Review: Gogol Bordello is a band unlike any other, and seeing them live is an experience that you’re not going get ever again in your life. The traveling band has nine people who all share the stage to bring you gypsy punk at its finest. The obvious aspect to this show was the high energy level. The band took the stage in a rush and never tapered off. The entire venue rocked from the stage to the walls including the balcony above the floor. A venue like the 9:30 is really conducive to a high energy show, whether it be punk rock, metal, core, or in this case gypsy punk.

This band also knows how to get a crowd going. With nine people in the band, all of which having a really good sense of stage presence; the crowd can really get into it. One of the really great things about this band is seeing how much they enjoy playing. This band feeds off each other, often looking at each other for nonverbal cues as to who takes a lead and who doesn’t. When a band has this much fun playing on stage it is infectious and the crowd ups it another level. Clearly one of the more absurd (by absurd I mean awesome and never seen before) things of the night was Pamela (one of the percussion/backing vocals/dance/washboard/general performance girls) throwing her large bass drum onto the crowd. She then preceded to jump on top of the drum, which is now being held up by many people, and play her drum in time with the rest of the music. It was intense.

Overall, this band rocked the house down. People were moshing, thrashing around, and dancing a jig all at once. After seeing Gogol Bordello live, you get the feeling that you just experienced something completely unique and unlike anything you’ll ever see again. I highly recommend seeing this band live regardless of what musical genre you’re into or what constitutes “your thing,” as they are sure to rock your socks off.