Portland Mercury May 6th, 2004

Punky Eastern European Hodown.
New York's vast population of gypsy-punk enthusiasts go bonkers over
Gogol Bordello.
And with a Ukrainian cabaret-influenced, and a new DJ side project
called JUF that
combines global beats with discotheque aspirations, who can blame
them?
-JS

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Gogol Bordello
Concert
May 16, 7:30 p.m., $12
The Troubadour

By Andrew Wenzlaff
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
awenzlaff@...

Eugene Hutz is like a wedding singer, birthday party clown and
Jackass cast
member rolled into one skinny Ukrainian man with a handle-bar
moustache.

With acrobatic flips, magic tricks and an indulgence in harming
equipment
and himself to embellish his rough musical act, the frontman of Gogol
Bordello violently stretches the role of a singer. But for the East
Coast-based band that will plow through the Troubadour this Sunday, a
trail
of circus-like destruction only helps its popularity.

"This band never failed even once to raise hell on a show and have
everybody
stomping like it was their last day of lives," said Hutz.

Gogol Bordello, named after 19th-century absurdist writer Nikolai
Gogol, is
a group of immigrants and refugees from Israel, the Ukraine and
Russia, plus
an American drummer. They play Eastern European gypsy music through a
punk-rock filter- like polka with the tempo turned up and a whole lot
of
vodka poured into the mix.

"Yeah, it's a lot of accordion, but the (stuff) that comes with it is
going
to blow your mind," said Hutz.

But the use of traditional instruments and styles doesn't reflect on a
nostalgia for the Soviet bloc. In fact, the effect is quite the
opposite. By
taking a slice of traditional flavors, adding something new and then
putting
the whole thing in the blender, Gogol Bordello challenges the
post-modern
notion that everything has already been done.

"People say that, on one hand, it sounds like Russian gypsy music,
and on
the other hand it sounds like Jamaican dance hall. Exactly, that's
what I'm
saying: Possibilities are limitless," Hutz said.

Hutz is a self-described alcoholic, a vice which is probably useful
to numb
his body to the hazards of his performance. He frequently injures
himself on
stage, both by accident - banging his head on a bass drum while
attempting a
cartwheel - and on purpose, extinguishing a cigarette on his bare
chest or
pouring hot wax in his mouth.

His masochism is part of his passionate delivery; it's his way of
showing he
is sincere.

Audiences respond well to the reckless energy Gogol Bordello brings.
At New
York venues which the band frequents, including Joe's Pub and The Fez,
audiences actually get up on tables and dance. The Fez suffered great
losses
of furniture and dishes after the first time the Gogol tornado
touched down,
but after tallying up profits and demand from enthusiastic patrons,
the band
was asked to return.

A big part of Gogol Bordello's statement is to challenge today's
popular
music.

"We ended up in America because we were deeply fascinated with
American
musicians, and then we get here and it's all in this rotten state,"
Hutz
said.

He regrets the loss of such acts as The Cramps, Fugazi, The Cows and
The
Jesus Lizard, who made music back when it was about making an artistic
statement and not just trying to get signed to a label.

"All this (stuff) on the charts is complete garbage," said Hutz.
"There is
so much music happening in the world that is full of energy and
creative,
inspiring power, that it seems to be absurd to go out and buy some
record
that you've heard on the radio."

But fortunately, Hutz believes people still have the capacity to
respond to
art that has verve, and the overwhelmingly positive reactions his
shows
elicit is testament to this.

"There are a lot of people that are into a lot of progressive
(stuff)," said
Hutz. "They come out of the woodwork once they hear the bell chime."