Gogol Bordello at First Avenue, Minneapolis (30 October 2017)

 

 

The greatest gypsy band Gogol Bordello just headlined First Avenue in Minneapolis on October 30th. The group is currently touring in support of their latest
Seekers and Finders (Cooking Vinyl).

Opening the show was New York’s brass band Lucky Chops. The band consists of trumpeter Joshua Gawel, tenor saxophonist Daro Behroozi, trombone player Josh Holcomb, saxophonist Raphael Buyo, and drummer Charles Sams. Their all-instrumental jazz/pop/funk explosive songs reminded me of Too Many Zooz or Moon Hooch…. Having seen all these bands, I can tell you that the audience were never truly ready for these bands. As soon as they start to play, the audience immediately will fall in love with the band. What Lucky Chops does best is medley familiar cover songs with some improvised original or standard melodies, making for a new unique song that is not always recognizable until the chorus hits.

A couple of Gogol Bordello guested on their set. Pedro showed up to help play ‘Danza 2016’, which is a medley of Don Omar’s ‘Danza Kuduro’ and Survivor’s ‘Eye of the Tiger’. Then Boris stepped in and help play ‘Coco’, adding a guitar sound to their big brass sound.

Their best song is the closer, Lipps Inc’s ‘Funkytown’ medley with James Brown’s ‘I Feel Good’. With ‘Funkytown’, they used the intro melodies, but then switch over to James Brown powerful chorus. It had the audience dancing and doing some funky moves.

Just to give you a little background on Gogol Bordello, like most of you, we first “discover” the band from the 2005 film Everything Is Illuminated, starring Elijah Wood and Gogol’s singer Eugene Hütz. When we first created W♥M, Gogol Bordello was one of the first band we spotlighted 10 years ago writing, “Gogol Bordello is a gypsy punk band formed in the Lower East Side of New York City. Their live shows are high energy and the songs themselves are often not in English. Many of the members of the band are immigrants coming from a range of countries including Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Ethiopia and Scotland.”

Over the years, band members came and went whenever they were available to tour. Currently, the band is: Ukraine’s Eugene Hütz (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Russia’s Sergey Ryabtsev (violin), Ethiopia’s Thomas “Tommy T” Gobena (bass), Ecuador’s Pedro Erazo (percussion, MC), Belarus’s Pasha Newmer (accordion), Russia’s Boris Pelekh (guitar), and two Americans – Alfredo Ortiz (drums) and Pamela Racine (vocals, dancer, percussion).

I know there’s a lot of band members, but not everyone is on stage at the same time. For example, dancer/singer Pamela Racine actually didn’t make her way to the stage until ‘Wonderlust King’. She would come and go as needed, and I guess, not every song required an accordion sound, so Pasha Newmer would often disappear.

Of course, Eugene Hütz was a joy to watch. When not dancing and waving his arms, he’s either playing guitars or drinking a full bottle of wine (often splashing them on fans).

The best part of the show was Lucky Chops joining the band on stage for ‘We Rise Again’, adding a big band sound to the song.

After 18 years as a touring band, it’s obvious that they’ve outgrown First Avenue’s mainroom, as every time they play at the venue, it sells out. If you really want to see the band, buy your ticket early, you’ll thank yourself later.

The band is so great live, and, especially with the popular songs like ‘Start Wearing Purple’ and ‘Trans-Continental Hustle’, will have the audience often going crazy for songs (so watching the audience is also half the fun).

Gogol Bordello’s seventh studio album
Seekers and Finders is out now on Cooking Vinyl.

Remaining tour dates:

11/01/2017 St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant 11/02/2017 Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works 11/24/2017 Huxleys Neue Welt Berlin, Germany  11/25/2017 Miedzynarodowe Targi Poznanskie Poznan 11/26/2017 Stodola Club Warsaw, Poland 11/27/2017 Studio Krakow, Poland 11/29/2017 Tonhalle Munich, Germany 11/30/2017 Gasometer Halle Vienna, Austria 12/01/2017 Tvornica Zagreb, Croatia 12/02/2017 Live Music Club Milan, Italy 12/04/2017 X-TRA Zurich, Switzerland 12/05/2017 Schlachthof Wiesbaden, Germany

12/07/2017 Live Music Hall Cologne, Germany 12/08/2017 De Roma Antwerp, Belgium 12/09/2017 Trianon Paris, France 12/10/2017 Melkweg Amsterdam 12/12/2017 Manchester Academy Manchester 12/14/2017 O2 Academy Brixton London 12/15/2017 Wulfrun Hall Wolverhampton 12/16/2017 Rock City Nottingham  12/17/2017 O2 Academy Glasgow Glasgow  12/19/2017 The Academy Dublin, Ireland  12/28/2017 Brooklyn Steel Brooklyn, NY  12/29/2017 Brooklyn Steel