I was planning to go to the Oregon Coast over Memorial Day weekend. Then I learned Gogol Bordello were playing Seattle’s Neptune Theater smack dab in the middle. The Oregon Coast would have to wait. Gogol Bordello were NOT to be missed. And they hit the stage like a hurricane, coming out one at a time with notorious front man Eugene Hutz coming out last and being met with raucous cheers from the packed house. He wore dark sunglasses and a police officer’s hat, but those were shed early on.
Eugene bounced about the stage like a rubber ball, twisting and writhing as if his bones were made of rubber. It was about the second song into their set that they played my favorite, Not A Crime. Judging by the surge of pogoing and the fact that I had to find something to hang onto for dear life, I am not alone in loving that song. During their song Alcohol, Eugene staggered about the stage with an open bottle of red wine. He took swigs and sloshed it about until the end of the song when he poured the remining contents over his head where it flowed down his now bare chest.
Another crowd favorite was when they performed Start Wearing Purple. The pogoing ignited again and everyone sang along. Fiddle player Sergey Ryabtsev took turns with percussionist – Pedro Erazo-Segovia in going to the front of the stage to rile the crowd. Pedro was loaded with charisma and flitted about from one side of the stage to the other, singing and goading the audience into a frenzy.
Guitarist Boris Pelekh tortured his strings making them screech as if in pain while bass player and drummer (Thomas Gobena & Alfredo Ortiz respectively) provided the power house giving Gogol Bordello their thunderous gypsy punk sound. But lest I forget the lady with the pipes, Ashley Tobias. She belted out harmonies with a voice that was both sensual and gutsy and at one point came out banging on a large bass drum.
Gogol Bordello is truly a one of a kind band and one of the best live acts ever. They put so much energy into their performance that it must be the equivalent of an athlete playing a basketball or football game, but those athletes at least get to sit out and rest here and there. All members of Gogol Bordello are non-stop energy through their entire set and they played for over an hour and a half. This was so worth postponing my Oregon Coast trip.
Opening for Gogol Bordello was a NY duo calling themselves Nu Port Rebel Alliance. This duo consisted of Pedro from Gogol Bordello playing a small stringed instrument I believe was a charango. It looked similar to a lute. Accompanying him on vocals and acoustic guitar was the equally talented Leo Minimum Tek. They played mostly Clash songs, opening with a haunting rendition of Straight to Hell and introduced it by telling the audience that Joe Strummer was in the house. This was followed by London Calling. They totally made these songs their own but totally did them justice. Doing justice to such a godly band is no easy task. They did a great version of Janie Jones (my favorite Clash song) and finished their set with a melding of Ghost Riders in the Sky, Ring of Fire and Rudy Can’t Fail. They were received by hearty cheers and applause. I heard a couple dudes close to me marveling at the way they played those Clash songs. The rapport between the two of these musicians was infectious and they also get points for the Star Wars reference in their name.
This was an incredible night and as I mentioned, well worth postponing my trip to the coast. No one can say Seattle doesn’t love Gogol Bordello. The show had to be a sell-out seeing how the theater was packed to the gills.
– All photos property of Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
