Gogol Bordello @ 930 Club 4/13/06
Everyone is now a gypsy, but Gogol Bordello is gypsy for real. I had seen Gogol at the Black Cat a couple of times and once at Ottobar, and was curious to see how thier energy would translate to the 930, where some bands just aren’t “big” enough to make it work. That will no longer be a concern. A better question might be ‘Is there anywhere too big for Hutz?’
I took a couple songs to prepare myself then started slowly working my way through the mass toward the stage. There are only a couple of bands that make me feel like hanging out in the throng and Gogol is probably on the top of the list. It’s a jouyous throng, an eastern european celebration of how everything sucks but should not. It’s a place where i don’t mind going home covered in sweat, even though most of it isn’t mine, and it ends up giving me a cold.
They played the set i am now pretty familiar with, taking it’s usual downshift with ‘Troubled Friends’, but it was a little longer, with a couple new tracks thrown in. There were a couple cameras on hand as is so often the case at the 930, and i would be one to hope that they put out a DVD after they cobble them together.
After a few unsuccessful attempts, i finally managed to time things right, and got to hold up Pamela’s drum during the always incredible ‘Undestructable’ finale.. Pamela tosses her drum onto the crowd, hops on top of it, and continues to pound out the beat. We were greedy, or unable, and she wasn’t passed very far from where she first plunked, but as silly as it is, it will be something i remember for a long time. The picture above is Hutz duplicating the feat front and center. Getting a recording of the live version of ‘Undestructable’ is more than enough reason to go buy any DVD they release. Please oh Please…
For live music, of any genre, you’ll have a hard time doing better than Gogol. See them, and then see them again, and again.
May 5th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
nice pic. cell phone?
May 5th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
Indeed. I hope to have a “Crappy Cell Phone Pic” for all worthy shows from here on out. Slim Cessna would have been a good pic, but day late / dollar short is my default.