After a weekend of dubstep, hip hop, electronic and amalgamations of all three, the gypsy punk (I didn’t make that up, but it fits) stylings of Gogol Bordello provided the denizens of Union Park with exactly the kick in the ass everyone needed to keep going – good, old fashioned mosh pit music. When the clouds of pot smoke finally dissipated enough that you could see more than six inches in front of your face, everyone realized the the sun was setting on the final day of North Coast 2011 to the spectacle of Gogol Bordello.
If you were a super talented musician that skipped college to run away with the circus, and that circus became a band, that would be Gogol Bordello. It’s orchestrated chaos. It’s like being 10 years old again and singing along to song lyrics you don’t understand (or comprehend) just because you can. It’s a band somewhere between six and sixteen members that has more in common with Borat than the similar twang in Hutz voice.
Gogol Bordello is Spanish hip hop mixed with acoustic guitar. Unintelligible chanting layered over ethnic drums. A Richard Simmons run-in-place music video unhinged. Basically, Gogol Bordello is the musical equivalent of bottled gypsy tears – they’re magical.
