W.S. Walcott Medicine Show

Gogol Bordello Live at Prospect Park (2025-08-02)

If you’ve been paying attention, you know that I’ve gone to a handful of shows this year (Do centipedes have hands?) Well, I can honestly say that Saturday night at Prospect Park for BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn’s punk night, Eugene Hutz and Gogol Bordello put on the most electrifying and wildly energetic shows of the year thus far. Lena Horne Bandshell was packed with what seemed like every person in NYC of Ukranian decent and not a one stood still from opening to closing.

I’ve seen Eugene solo numerous times over the years at a myriad of tribute and benefit shows but had never seen the full Gogol Bordello Band before. Let me tell you, better late than never. Comprised of musicians from virtually all over the world, the band came together on the Lower East Side in the early oughts and have mastered their brand of folk punk, combining Ukranian and Romany folk music with the anarcho punk music you can hear almost every day blaring from Tompkins Square Park.

With a theatrical bent and boundless energy, Gogol Bordello, on Saturday night (and from what I understand everynight) were a non stop from start to finish jugernaut of frenetic musical and political showmanship. As I said already, while the band did form on the streets of the East Village, the majority of the band itself is either first or second generation East European, specifically Ukranian. Hutz, himself was born in a town called Bojarka just outside of Kyiv. His parents who were of Lithuanian, Ukranian and Romani decent uprooted the family upon news of the Chernobyl accident. They would spend the next several years making the rounds throughout Eastern Europe as refugees. It was during these travails that young Eugene first discovered his Romani past. (When the family lived in Ukraine, they hid their Romani heritage for fear of reprisals from the authorities as the Romani people were still at that point considered a scourge of Easter Europe). During these travels the Hutz’s would pass through their ancestral Roma village and this is where young Eugene first discovered the traditions, music and culture which would go on to be such a massive influence on the music and stage presentation of Gogol Bordello. The Hutz’s would ventually land in Vermont in 1992 as political refugees under the auspices of US resettlement program (back when the United States still welcomed imigrants and opened our arms to refugees). Eugene would find himself in the East Village by the late 90’s where he would meet the eventual members of Gogol and fairly quickly they were off to the races.

The show on Saturday was of course part of BRIC’s Celebrate Brooklyn and this evening in particular was appropriately billed as “punk night”. Opening the evening off was Brooklyn’s own relentless punk rocking Pons who got things started with their set of electrifying oft time chaotic post punk. With singer, Sam Cameron, leading the way Pons unleashed a bombastic set of hard hitting maniacal punk and roll.

Up next was Puzzled Panther, another relatively local band which has been creating quite a buzz for itself. Originally a duo of Victoria Espinoza and Kay Bontempo, the two have since encorporated the help of Eugene Hutz, Alex Ryaboy, as well as Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs). Puzzled Panther offered up another noisey, attitudinous set of brash post punk that was a perfect transition into Gogol Bordello’s upcoming set.

As I’ve already alluded to Gogol Bordello’s set was a non stop party extravaganza. Hutz and the rest of the band were collectively as well as individually dirvishes jumping, spinning and cavorting all over the stage with relentless abandone. And while it was hard to tell which was having a better time throughout the night, the band or the crowd, it is safe to say that both fed off each other’s energy.

For me a highlight of the evening had to have been the anthemic sing-a-long “Fire On Ice Floe” with it’s chorus of ‘dance, dance, dance, dance, dance around the fire whoa!” had the crowd in an adsolute frenzy singing and dancing along in unison. And then if that weren’t enough, the very next tune would be the slow burner, “From Boyarka to Boyaca” the recent collaboration between Gogol Bordello & Puzzled Panther which of course would have both Victoria and Kay join the band on stage for a tumultuous romp.

All in all, between the Ukranian musicians/performers on stage and the multitude of Ukranian nationals who comprised much of the crowd at Lena Horne on Saturday night, it is hard to comprehend how Putin and his Russian invaders could possibly have underestimated the spirit, fortitude and strength of the Ukranian people.

SOLIDARITINE, indeed!!

GOGOL BORDELLO SLIDESHOW