Gogol Bordello arrived in Tempe on the back of their strongest album in a decade. We Mean It, Man!, out since February 13 on Hütz’s own Casa Gogol Records, strips away superfluous digressions and replaces them with finely honed juggernaut songs, big choruses, and crunching riffs, and Monday night’s setlist treated the record like the centerpiece it is. “Ignition,” “Mystics,” “Life Is Possible Again,” and the title track “We Mean It, Man!” all appeared alongside a catalog stretch that went back to the 1999 debut, making it less of a tour and more of a celebration of what this band has accomplished over 25 years.
The setlist covered ground from Gypsy Punks classics like “Not a Crime,” “Immigrant Punk,” and “Start Wearing Purple” through Super Taranta! cuts “Wonderlust King” and “Pala Tute,” with “Immigraniada” and “Dance Rounda Fire” filling out the middle catalog. It closed with “Alcohol,” “Boiling Point,” and “Undestructable,” the latter a wall-of-sound finish that functions as a mission statement regardless of what year you hear it. Hütz still chants choruses like they are the most important slogans ever uttered, and there is nothing about a Monday night in a mid-sized Tempe venue that changes that.
Boris and the Joy kicked the night off, and the context matters here. Boris Pelekh is Gogol Bordello’s own guitarist, and his solo project trades the band’s communal chaos for something quieter and more interior. Indie-folk-electro-pop with psychedelic undertones and soul-baring lyrics, held up by acoustic and electric guitar and vocals that sit somewhere between tender and surreal. It was a deliberate contrast to what followed, and it worked. There are echoes of Gogol Bordello’s lyricism and thematic, but interpreted in a wholly new way. Boris gave the room time to settle in before things escalated.
Puzzled Panther, one of the newest and most exciting up and coming bands on Hütz’ Casa Gogol Records, played direct support. The NYC renai-dance punk outfit served as the perfect bridge between Boris and The Joy and Gogol Bordello. Harkening back to a 90’s era spitfire punk delivery, Puzzled Panther brought an energy to the room which commanded all eyes and ears. Their collaboration with Hütz on “From Boyarka to Boyaca” is one of the standout moments on the new record, and Hütz came out on stage to perform it with them on Monday night. The song builds from chimes and distorted guitars before dissolving into a punky, pogoing frenzy, and when played live that translation held up. Having them on the bill was not incidental. It made the handoff to Gogol Bordello feel like a perfect continuation rather than a reset.
The North American tour still has two weeks of road ahead, moving through Texas, the southeast, and up the east coast before wrapping at the Knockdown Center in New York City on March 27. San Antonio, Houston, Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Richmond, DC, Philadelphia, and Boston all remain on the schedule. For anyone who missed Tempe, there is still time.
Gogol Bordello
Website: gogolbordello.com Instagram: instagram.com/gogolbordello Facebook: facebook.com/gogolbordello X: x.com/gogolbordello Spotify: Gogol Bordello on Spotify Bandcamp: gogolbordello.bandcamp.com
Puzzled Panther
Website: puzzledpanther.com Instagram: instagram.com/puzzledpanther.nyc Bandcamp: puzzledpanther.bandcamp.com Spotify: Puzzled Panther on Spotify
Boris and the Joy
Website: borisandthejoy.com Instagram: instagram.com/borisandthejoy Facebook: facebook.com/borispelekh X: x.com/borispelekh
Additional photos below provided by Joe Abbruscato
Puzzled Panther
