Lane Daley
With its Solidaritine Tour that kicked off earlier this month, Gogol Bordello is spreading a message of freedom particularly tuned to the atrocities that are besieging Ukraine. As the band highlights explicitly on its website, every show “will be dedicated to the brave Ukrainian defenders, and a significant portion of proceeds will go to Ukraine’s battle for democracy. We will also partner with human rights organizations providing relief in Ukraine throughout the tour. Come stand in solidarity with us.”
That was on full display in Birmingham last Wednesday.
The band kicked off its May 18 set list at the storied Iron City Bham with “Sacred Darling”, “I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again,” and “Passport”. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that “Sacred Darling” and “Passport” reach all the way back to Voi-La Intruder and “I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again” comes from the 2005 classic Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike. It was classic Gogol Bordello at a time when we are all looking to find solid ground amid the winds of change. In fact, only one song, “Saboteur Blues,” came from the band’s most recent outing Seekers and Finders.
The message of solidarity was explicit throughout, and spotlighted during the band’s encore. Returning to the stage, the band performed several fitting covers – including Sick of It All’s “Scratch the Surface”, Why These Coyotes’s “Dance Around the Fire,” and Woody Guthrie’s “All You Fascists,” the latter performed with Amigo the Devil. From its own catalog, the band hand-picked “Forces of Victory” from Super Taranta! And “Undestructable” from Gypsy Punks.
Originally from Boyarka, Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hütz is particularly disquieted by the war crimes being committed against the people of Ukraine, finding humanity in the mounting support for its swift reversal. He sees music, in all its collaborative forms, as a critical path toward ending the current violence and preempting future attacks. Speaking to fans in London, Hütz expressed gratitude and a call to action. “Punk and hardcore is like a cultural-humanitarian corridor between all countries that deals with those issues, and a lot of it developed and grew muscles here. We are always excited to energize that corridor.”
Hütz has energized that corridor with urgency, through myriad collaborative projects to benefit the people of Ukraine. “Zelensky: The Man With the Iron Balls” is a joint release with Les Claypool of Primus, to whom Pitchfork approvingly compared Hütz for his six-string acoustic guitar slapping. The album includes tracks featuring Stewart Copeland, Sean Lennon, Billy Strings, and Gogol violinist/vocalist Sergey Ryabtsev. Proceeds will be donated to Nova Ukraine, a nonprofit dedicated to humanitarian aid for the people of Ukraine. “If I Should Fall From Grace With God” is a Pogues cover collaboration with Jesse Malin. Released exclusively on Bandcamp, all proceeds benefit the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation, which “supports the development of democracy, a free-market economy and human rights in Ukraine, and the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Ukraine.” A partnership with Cauze enables Solidaritine Tour concertgoers (and any other big-hearted folks) to donate to the Care.org Ukrainian Crisis Response.
For its Solidaritine Tour, Gogol Bordello is delivering well-known and oft-praised live performances, first across the East Coast and through the U.S. South, then across Europe. In the spirit of namesake Nikolai Gogol, Gogol Bordello has been “smuggling” its Eastern European brand of so-called gypsy punk to fans worldwide since 1999. Amigo the Devil will join Hütz and Company for most of its dates. Local venue listings will have more info, especially for ticket availability.
Check out our photo gallery from the Gogol Bordello show here.
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