Gogol Bordello at First Ave (February 25, 2026)

It’s been such a long winter here in Minnesota with ice on the ground and I.C.E. in the streets that the perfect antidote for many was to trudge downtown to First Ave and get a mainline booster shot of punk spirit from a band that has been electrifying crowds since 1999.  

We’ve seen Gogol Bordello many times over the years, last seeing them twice on their 2023 tour in Minneapolis and Kansas City.  The guitarist, Boris Pelekh, on the 2023 Gogol Bordello tour actually opened the evening with his solo musical project Boris and the Joy.  With an Apple laptop at his feet and Gogol Bordello drummer, Korey Kingston, by his side.  I would call his music new age punk.  He did inhabit the spirit of his previous band by endlessly bounding the length of the stage.  

“Thanks for bringing the energy,” he said to the crowd that was almost filled to capacity for the sold-out show.  “I can feel it.”

He said that it was good to be touring with his Gogol Bordello family, reminding the crowd that most of the musicians they will see this evening are first generation immigrants. 

After a brief intermission, Puzzled Panther took the stage and kicked everything into overdrive with an unabashed NYC underground punk sound.  The first few songs were so infectious, I found my body involuntarily dancing, which isn’t ideal when you are trying to take pictures.  

Puzzled Panther opened for Gogol Bordello on their 2023 tour and it is not surprising why they were invited back for Victoria Espinoza on lead vocals and Kay Bon Tempo on lead guitar have the same manic energy as the headliner, so much so that its lead singer, Eugene Hütz, joined them on stage to play guitar and take photos during the set.  

Puzzled Panther is supporting their new EP, Fits of Serenity and when they played “Sting of Iodine” the only note I could manage to type into my phone was “Wow!”  

They also played a new song “Big Scream” before finishing with a Sonic Youth cover “Dirty Boots.”

Then an extended intermission while Hütz probably prepped himself for another round.  And as I looked around the venue, I saw two things you normally don’t see at a show:

1. A guy wearing an authentic Davy Crockett coonskin hat with the racoon tail.
2. A guy, shirtless, wearing an apron.  

(I’ll let you decide which item may have been available at the merch table.) 

There was definitely a bond between Gogol Bordello and the Minneapolis crowd that filled up the venue.  I’m almost sure the bonds exist all over the world for the band is an international band.  Many iterations have changed over the years, and the one that took the stage were:

• Eugene Hütz– Lead Vocal, Acoustic Guitar (Ukraine) 
• Sergey Ryabtsev – Violin (Russia) 
• Erica Mancini – Accordion (Argentina)
• Pedro Erazo – Percussion, Charango, Marimba (Ecuador)
• Leo Mintek – Guitar (USA)
• Gill Alexandre – Bass (Brazil)
• Korey Kingston – Drums (Jamacia, Mon!)

At this moment when immigrants are too afraid to go to work, go shopping or even leave their homes, Hütz and his crew were there to remind everyone that we are greater as a nation when we are as diverse as the band who took the stage.  

Gogol Bordello is supporting their new album We Mean It, Man! which “Just came out a few days ago, Mother F#ckers,” growled Hütz.  

There were a lot of F-bombs hurled throughout the night for Hütz has not mellowed one bit.  In fact he may be raging even more with what is happening in the streets of America and what is still happening in his home country of  Ukraine as they reach a grim milestone of four years with their war against Russia.  The band even managed to slip in “F#ck I.C.E.” into “Wonderlust King” and throughout the evening that phrase was repeated on stage as well as the crowd.  

Gogol Bordello played quite a few songs from their new album like the affirming “Life is Possible Again” and “No Time for Idiots” which is a cautionary tale that we can no longer afford to look away to what is happening to the current political climate.  But mostly, the band danced and danced and danced while the crowd joined in for there is an infectious joy to their music, which somehow manages to infuse music from all over the world into their punk spirit like “Fire on Ice Floe” where Erazo stepped up to the front of the stage with his charango to establish a samba beat that had the tempo of someone experiencing heart arrhythmia.  

A highlight for me was a fan favorite “Mishto” which gave Mintek an extended solo on his guitar, followed by Ryabtsev, playing a sad, soulful gypsy-filled violin solo that brought the room to silence as the crowd hung on his every note.  

What I took away from the show as we filtered out into the cold winter night: We are in tough times, but it’s important to keep a punk spirit and remember to dance and dance and dance.