Gogol Bordello Whirl the Neptune Theater Into A Steaming Cauldron With Their Gypsy Punk Energy, by Holly Homan

On the hot and humid Friday night of August 9, 2013, I headed to the nearly century old Neptune Theater on the edge of the University of Washington campus. It was the second night of a two-night stand in Seattle for Gogol Bordello. Hailing from New York City, the band members actually are natives of areas from all over the globe, with most coming from Russia and the Ukraine. Labeling themselves Gypsy Punk, Gogol Bordello is fronted by Chernobyl refugee Eugene Hutz.

Hutz is a very theatrical performer, but all the members were very adept at igniting the audience into a frenzy. Percussionist and vocalist Pedro Erazo-Segovia took turns with Hutz leaning out into the crowd, riling them and getting them involved with the entire performance. He was equally as adept as Hutz in provoking the audience.

The second song of the set was Not A Crime (and my favorite GB song). During the staccato la las, Hutz often held the mic out for the audience to chant along. At times so many jumped up and down in such quick succession, I felt the floor heave heavily.

The lone female in the band, Elizabeth Sun, looked like an exotic bird with her face articulately painted and wearing a shiny gold romper. She belted out vocals, slammed cymbals together and banged a drum, contributing to Gogol Bordello’s unique sound and solid energy. Violin player Sergey Ryabstev contributed to the on stage energy with his constant facial contortions and regular flitting about the stage all without missing a note.

When GB performed their song Start Wearing Purple, everyone sang along and Hutz tossed the contents of a bottle of red wine into those lucky enough to be up front.

Inside the Neptune the temperature had to be at least 80 degrees with about 80% humidity. I was surprised the entire band hadn’t melted at some point during their show. None of them stayed still, moving from one side of the stage to the other during their one and a half hour set including a half-hour encore.

The remaining members of Gogol Bordello are, Yuri Lemeshev — accordion, Oliver Charles — drums, Michael Ward — guitar, Thomas Gobena — bass and Pasha Newmer — accordion.

This was a wild and fun night! When it was all over, many from the band came out to shake hands with audience members as a sort of meet and greet. Being right up front and with my trusty notebook, I handed my notebook and pen to Eugene Hutz and got his autograph. Quel Honneur!

The evening was opened by Seattle’s own Orkestar Zirkonium, a self-proclaimed Balkan-inspired mobile brass-and-drum band cast through an American lens. Their repertoire included an Eastern European brass sounds and a female vocalist who sang like a goddess. Orkestar Zirkonium consist of, Kevin Hinshaw — clarinet, Ivan Molton — alto sax, Stephen Lohrentz — trumpet, Eric Padget — trumpet, Whitney Neufeld-Kaiser — alto horn, Jeff Walker — trombone, Donn Cave — barritone sax, Jerry Neufeld-Kaiser — tuba, Sarie Breznau — percussion, Matt Manges — snare drum, Anne Mathews — davul and Greg Bumpus, percussion. This twelve-piece band did an excellent job getting the crowd moving. They are all very fine musicians and were very well received.

– Holly Homan