Live Review

Gogol Bordello – Manchester Academy

• 1st Apr 2008

You wouldn’t think that there’s much of an affinity between the Irish and the East-Europeans. There probably isn’t. However, they do share one thing: they know how to have a bloody good time.

Even before the band come on tonight, I’m reminded of a Flogging Molly gig – as is always the case when they play- there seems to be no type of person that isn’t represented here tonight. Kids, students, and seemingly, some OAPS, have all turned out to join in what promises to be a different kind of gig – and as soon as the band take the stage, its easy to see what that means.

Gogol Bordello aren’t the kind of band to do things the way other people do, so filling the stage with band members, having an accordion player, and drinking red wine from the bottle must be standard fare for them. Their inability to give a damn transfers almost immediately to the crowd, and within seconds everyone around me is possessed by an almost inescapable compulsion to dance like a maniac – and to be honest, I am too.

Maybe it’s the way that the beat resonates through your whole body, or perhaps it’s the way that Eugene hurtles from one side of the stage to another, but you just cannot stand still. It’s not even the generic pogo-dance that usually takes hold. No, everyone here is just doing their own thing, and dancing like no one is watching.

Eugene, however, knows that nearly 2000 people are watching him, and he doesn’t disappoint. Pink wigs, red buckets, and a formidable moustache are all used to great effect, with the atmosphere becoming more and more euphoric as the gig goes on. ‘Start Wearing Purple’ isn’t even the highlight you’d expect it to be, as every other song, whether you know it or not, is just as brilliant.

Not long after the wonderful ‘Think Locally, Fuck Globally’, the band take their bows and exit, only to be forced back onto the stage by the hungry cries of the audience. But, in keeping with the unconventional theme of the night, this encore isn’t your standard three-song job. No, this encore turns out to be as long as the gig itself, with an acoustic rendition of a brand new song eventually turning into a twenty minute long jam session that goes on for another five minutes every time you think its coming to a crescendo.

In the midst of all this ‘letting go’, you’re struck by one thing apart from the general strangeness of the gig: that this band is so much better live than they are on CD. Having a great time with their devoted fans is clearly what Gogol Bordello love to do best, and in the immortal words of Eugene Hutz, there ain’t no party like a GB party, cos a GB party don’t stop.

And it really doesn’t.