Gogol Bordello

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Reading Festival 2006

Friday 25th to Sunday 27th August 2006
Little Johns Farm, Richfield Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 8EQ, England MAP
£135 for weekend (including camping), £60 any day

Daily capacity: 55,000

Okay so I may have waited all summer to finally see them and I may be a huge fan, but for me Gogol were one of the best bands of the weekend. There was a huge cheer as New York’s finest Ukranian gypsy punk band took to the stage and the tent was packed and delirious before they played a note.

Wow! How brilliant were they? Totally amazing, the crowd jigged, the music showed maturity and complexity, sometimes it merged into something almost dub at times at others something Eastern European and the throng were alive.

The front of the crowd at the barrier were manic, before the females dancers even hit the stage with their high kick dancing and we were as frothy as the beer poured by crazy pirate, lead guitarist/singer Eugene Hutz from between the girl’s legs. Before he perfectly drop kicked the can into the crowd.

I’ve only just bought the album, so the only song I knew was ‘Start Wearing Purple’ but I danced myself wild and watched a band who have to be the most original and exciting on the circuit at the moment. They’ve plundered every single style of music imaginable and layered it into their music and then made sure it all makes us dance. Superb!