Article Contributed by Nick Gumas
Published on 2026-03-10
Nearly three decades into their career pioneering the Gypsy Punk genre, titans of individuality and nonconformity, Gogol Bordello, performed a sold out show over the weekend at Los Angeles’ The Novo. Making their appearance in Southern California just a few short weeks after the release of their latest album “We Mean It, Man!”, the audience was primed for an evening of new and old music as the veteran act gave them all they could have asked for over the course of their multi-hour performance.
A night that proved as community-driven onstage as the group promotes through their music’s rhetoric, Gogol Bordello’s presence was felt onstage throughout the hours leading up to their headlining set, with first opening act “Boris and the Love” being comprised entirely of current or former Gogol Bordello members, as well as frontman Eugene Hütz accompanying on guitar throughout the penultimate act “Puzzled Panther.”
The venue’s floor began to shake from the crowd’s enthusiasm from the first notes as the group walked onstage one by one and began their set with their recent anthem “Ignition.” Immediately following this with their singles “I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again” and “Not a Crime” from the mid 2000s, they made a bold declaration early on about the variety throughout the decades they planned to represent through their setlist.
Remarking on the attendance that a performance in Los Angeles can prompt, Hütz stated “All four of our drummers are here. That’s never happened before” with enthusiasm in his tone. Far from the only surprise guest of the evening, legendary guitarist Tom Morello was also in attendance as he joined the band onstage to collaborate as they performed their latest album’s titular single “We Mean It, Man!”
As much of a historian as an entertainer, Hütz took a moment to speak to the etymology of the word “idiot” late in the show. Mentioning that the word, rooted in Ancient Greek, originally meant a person with no interest in politics, before giving an electric rendition of their recent single “No Time For Idiots” with “We Mean It, Man!” Producer and engineer Adam Greenspan joining the band onstage as a guest vocalist.
Not letting the evening pass by without playing all of the hits, the group gave a grand finale in the largest way by playing an extended version of their 1999 career defining hit “Start Wearing Purple.” Unable to contain his enthusiasm even at the end of the night, Hütz stayed lively, dousing the front row of the audience with beer during the final notes.
Starting their encore with an anecdote on the commitment of their fans, Hütz walked back onstage and spoke about a fan who had made their song request for the evening abundantly clear, reaching out to him on social media for the past four months, adding “Even her mother DM’d me.” Choosing to reward this dedication, he quipped “Emily, we’re cooperating” before playing their lyrically motivated ballad “Through the Roof ’n’ Underground” before finishing the evening with their initially planned encore of “Alcohol,” “Boiling Point,” and “Undestructible.”
Unwilling to end the night without giving everyone their due credit, Hütz spent the final chapter of the evening introducing the band, spending more than 10 full minutes calling out every member by name, and years they had dedicated to this movement. Milking every second he could, he relentlessly thanked everyone who had contributed to the evening’s success during this extended curtain call until the clock struck midnight on the Los Angeles crowd.
