Sometimes life is stranger than fiction. Case in point, a band of Gypsies will descend on The Observatory.
These aren’t the palm reading, love potion making Gypsies from TV, books, and movies. These Gypsies come in the form of musicians known as Gogol Bordello.
They were formed at the dawn of the new millennium in Lower East Side Manhattan with musicians from all over the world.
They are known for being theatrical and their lead singer Eugene Hütz is guaranteed to remove his shirt in the first two songs, seriously… bank on it! Hütz will stage dive, run back and forth to the drummer. He has endless energy; so-much-so, it earned him a cover page in Vogue UK.
THE OBSERVATORY
Santa Ana, California
November 3, 2022
BELASCO THEATER
Los Angeles, California
November 7, 2022
The band has been in a few popular movies – check out their IMDb! Their most notable appearance was in “Everything is Illuminated” where Hütz co-starred alongside Elijah Wood in a drama/adventure/comedy draped in today’s headlines with Nazi purges in the Ukraine.
The band also appeared in their featured documentary “Gogol Bordello Non-Stop”. They recorded “Let’s Get Crazy” for a Coca Cola ad for Euro 2012.
This band has toured worldwide; OK, the UK and this side of the pond. Aside some very devoted fans, they have an eclectic personal and professional fanbase.
They will soon become household names, they have shared the stage with some big names. They have played alongside Primus, Flogging Molly, and Cake. Their influences make sense, Hendrix, the Clash, and Fugazi.
This band is entertaining with Hütz on guitar and featured crooner (Ukrainian), Sergey Ryabtsev on Violin (Russian), then there is Pedro Erazo on percussion (Ecuadorian), there is Boris Pelekh on guitar and backing vocals (Russian), then we have Vanessa Walters also percussion / backing vocals (performer), Ashley Tobias also drops backing vocals / percussion (US). Rounding out with Gill Alexandre on bass and backing vocals with Korey Kingston on skins.
Recently, I witnessed Hütz’ onstage antics at the Howie Pyro benefit show. There he performed “Kick Out The Jams” with The MC5’s Wayne Kramer. True to form, the shirt came off and he ran around like a mad man!
Catch them in OC, or at the Belasco in L.A… they are definitely a must see band!