Gogol Bordello in Royal Oak (Review)

A few months ago I was a'scrollin' through my Facebook news feed when I spied (with my little eye) a post about Gogol Bordello coming to Royal Oak. I sprang to my keyboard and sent up a flare, canvassing for a caravan of enthusiastic Gogol fans eager to make the trek...

...or two fans.

Two enthusiastic Gogol fans eager to make the trek...

...okay, FINE!

One very enthusiastic Gogol fan (Jollie) and one person we recruited to tag along.

Three tickets were purchased. Itineraries were finalized. The waiting began. For weeks, Jollie and I exchanged anxious text messages, counting down to what felt like our Christmas. I'd get a random "Gogol" text during the day, which I followed up Marco-Polo style with "Bordello" - then we would shriek and scream in text form not able to hide our excitement. Finally, after a long montage of bored looks and calendar dates being crossed out, Saturday arrived.  We packed up the car and headed to Royal Oak.

"So what's their music like?" Tag-Along asked while on the road.

I searched my mind for a possible comparison. "I guess Gogol Bordello could be described as an Eastern European version of Flogging Molly or Dropkick Murphys," I settled on.

"Kind of," Jollie helped. "More like if pirates had a punk band."

Never has a more accurate description of Gogol Bordello been made.

Gogol Bordello is a unique band.  Founded in 1999, it's comprised of musicians from all walks of life playing the punk out of their instruments; electric violin, accordion, washboard - it doesn't matter; Gogol Bordello makes it work.  Saturday's show was hit-after-hit from their 2005 album Gypsy Punks: Underground World Strike (with a few favorites from 2007's Super Taranta! peppered in).  Jollie almost killed me with his fierce dance skills, Tag-Along stood in utter disbelief at the spectacle he was witnessing, and I damn near lost my voice from screaming along. Each song was wonderfully performed, with new nuances added to freshen up the ten-year-old-tracks without losing a hint of the familiarity. This was my first Gogol Bordello show, and it certainly won't be my last.

Thank you, Gogol Bordello, for an incredible show (and a 25-minute encore featuring some of your "Fall Collection").

Here's a smattering of Gogol Bordello; the punk band for pirates - and we'll start with Jollie's favorite, "Alcohol":