Gogol Bordello
Support from: Mary Shelley & Grace Bergere
The Observatory – Santa Ana, CA
Monday, May 20th, 2024
Review/Pics: Manuel Gay
If you’re looking for a good time, you can always rely on Gogol Bordello to bring the fun wherever they go to. A few months ago the NYC-based band announced a West Coast tour prior to embarking on their European journey later this summer. It was my third time seeing them in a fifteen-year span and I have to state this right away: Eugene Hütz and his crew age like fine wine. Along with their hits, Eugene carefully packed in his suitcase a couple of acts signed under his record label Casa Gogol: Mary Shelley and Grace Bergere. We were lucky to make it to their Santa Ana Observatory show on May 20th.
At 8pm, New-York punk band Mary Shelley took the stage for a thirty-minute set of furious energy that left the whole crowd begging for more. Eugene appeared briefly and grabbed the mic and introduced himself and Mary Shelley as “his good friends from NYC”.
The band formed four years ago in the Big Apple and it was their first time performing on the West Coast. It took only one song to set the tone and leave a “what did just happen?” look on everyone’s face. Songs like “Goin’ To The Beach” and “The Nursing Home Jig” really made an impact. During the rare moments of silence you could hear voices coming out of the crowd “You guys are amazing!” or “Oh wow that was awesome!”.
Mary Shelley pulls out every trick under the sun to make the experience unforgettable, the band members jump, crawl, roll on the floor, get in the crowd’s face… How much can you do in a half hour show? I also appreciated that the four members alternate singing and change spots/microphone stands song after song. They had to cut their setlist short by one song as they were running out of time. Despite the audience shouting “One more song! One more song!”, the lights turned back on and the amps buzzed off.
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Next in line was Grace Bergere who was also introduced by Eugene. The stage remained very dark throughout the entire set. It was very fitting for the mood of the show, but terrible to get any good pictures. You learn very early when you get involved in concert photography that the drummer is the hardest member to shoot since they’re always in the back, hidden behind their kit and the “good” light is usually on the front of the stage. Well, very surprisingly this time the drum kit was the only area with decent lighting (if you can believe it!)… But let’s get back to our show. I have to reckon, the music was not really my cup of tea, it was very moody and downtempo, which I thought was surprising as it’s the exact opposite of Gogol Bordello’s style and energy. I was however floored by the last song which was incredible! It was listed as “Blood” on the setlist but doesn’t appear to be available on any platform yet. It was a long progressive song that ended with a powerful crescendo which brought electricity at the end of their set.
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At 9:30pm, the lights turned off and a long instrumental song came out of the speakers. Eugene finally reappeared with his band and the crowd went wild as they opened with “Sacred Darling”, the first track off their debut album Voi-La Intruder (1999). The energy on stage was at 100% right off the bat and only kept increasing from that point as they followed up with a few songs from their classic 2005 album Gipsy Punks: Underdog World Strike. Live rendition of songs like “Not A Crime” or “Wonderlust King” are something to witness once in a lifetime.
Gogol Bordello blends musical genres and serves it with punk energy and a gipsy twist. It’s not surprising based on the fact that Eugene is Ukrainian, Sergey (violin) is Russian, Gill on the bass is from Brazil, Pedro the singing percussionist is from Ecuador etc… Gogol Bordello is pretty much the United Nations of Punk.
The band was joined on stage by New York duo Puzzled Panther for “Fire On Ice Floe” from Gogol’s last album Solidaritine. The duo stayed on stage for one more song as they played the single they recently released together “From Boyarka to Boyaka”. The song links Eugene’s roots in Boyarka, Ukraine to Puzzle Panthers’ Victoria’s roots in Boyaca, Colombia. Although at first Gogol Bordello might sound more like Balkanic folk music, the punk influences are never far, like when they blended a snippet of Fugazi’s “Waiting Room” while playing “Focus Coin”.
Eugene took a moment to dedicate “Mishto” to punk legend Steve Albini who passed away recently and produced their breakthrough album Gipsy Punks. I discovered Gogol Bordello with their cover of Mano Negra’s “Mala Vida” which I loved but had never seen them play it live and I was in luck that night as they played a portion of it.
Eugene went through a few beers, wine bottles and cocktails through the show but it’s hard to tell how much he actually drank and how much he poured on himself or threw in the air/audience in the front row. It is impossible to not mention Erica Mancini on the accordion who was incredible, she played her instrument while bending backwards or dancing with Gill. Sergey aka Professor on the violin is also an excellent showman. And what can I say about Pedro who steals the show every time he grabs a microphone and jumps from behind his percussion set to the front of the stage. By the time they played their banger “Start Wearing Purple”, the crowd was already drenched in sweat from jumping and dancing non-stop the entire evening.
The actual setlist on-stage listed six different songs as “encore options”, we did get four of those including a cover of Sex Pistols’ “Bodies” and Agnostic Front’s “Victim In Pain” along with an acoustic version of “Alcohol”. Whether you are a punk aficionado or a lover of festive music in the style of Manu Chao/Mano Negra, and even if you don’t fall under any of those categories, a Gogol Bordello show is a good time waiting to happen. Do not hesitate if you get a chance to see this incredible band live.
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