Gogol Bordello Kicks Off Sold-Out European Tour in Vilnius

On Thursday (July 30), Vilnius was painted purple: the famous New York-based band Gogol Bordello kicked off their European tour in Lithuania with a spectacular concert at the capital’s "Vasaros terasa". The authors of the hit "Start Wearing Purple" were delighted that the Lithuanian capital was temporarily declared the "Gogol Bordero" punk republic of alternative culture. The band's show, which was completely sold out, left no one indifferent – the packed crowd sang along and danced with Gogol Bordello throughout the entire two-hour concert.

Gogol Bordello opened their performance with the track "Ignition" from their newly released album We Mean It, Man!. The musicians soon thrilled the easily fired-up crowd with two of their hits, "I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again" and "Not A Crime".

The 2-hour show left no one indifferent – fans got to hear all of Gogol Bordello’s most popular songs: "Wonderlust King", "Start Wearing Purple", "Pala Tute", "My Companjera", and many others. During the concert, both the audience and the musicians repeatedly chanted "Slava Ukraini! Herojam Slava!".

The crowd gathered at the packed "Vasaros terasa" in Vilnius gave the famous New York band a very warm welcome. Called out for an encore, the musicians of Gogol Bordello performed three more songs before saying goodbye until their next concerts: "Solidarity", "Alcohol", and "Indestructable".

There was no shortage of familiar faces among the concert guests – the show was enjoyed by the musicians of Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio dantys, the leader of the legendary rock band Antis Algirdas Kaušpėdas, the frontman of Poliarizuoti stiklai Šarūnas Mačiulis, the founder and leader of Siela Aurelijus Sirgedas, and singer Alina Orlova.

Gogol Bordello’s leader Eugene Hütz is well-acquainted with the work of M. K. Čiurlionis and considers himself a big fan. The musician opened up about his love for Lithuania's most prominent composer and painter during the concert, telling the crowd he was highly surprised when his plane landed at the Vilnius Airport named after M. K. Čiurlionis.

The large fanbase of Gogol Bordello in our country had not only been eagerly awaiting this concert, buying up all the tickets, but also prepared special gifts for the band. Artist Martynas Ivinskas presented the musicians of Gogol Bordello with his own artwork.

Gogol Bordello’s lead violinist Sergey Ryabtsev arrived in Vilnius a few days before the concert. The musician visited his relatives and friends living here, and also contributed to the "Gogol Bordero" Ukraine support campaign. The charismatic musician personally visited several embassies of the "Gogol Bordero" republic and supported Ukraine.

By the way, the "Gogol Bordero" campaign is still ongoing, so residents of Vilnius and guests of the city are invited to keep joining it until all the badges specially made for this unique campaign are distributed.

After a thunderous start to their European tour in Vilnius and their stay in Lithuania, Gogol Bordello headed to Latvia, where they will perform on Friday (July 31) at the "Summer Sound" festival in Liepāja. Incidentally, tonight one of our country's most popular bands, Biplan, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, will also perform at this festival. The very next day, on August 1, Gogol Bordello will continue their tour in Estonia, where they will hold a performance at the "Helitehas" club in Tallinn.

The musicians of Gogol Bordello, who will spend the entire summer in the Old Continent, will later visit Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Poland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Turkey – in total, the band will hold nearly 30 concerts during this tour. In the fall, Gogol Bordello will return to the US and continue their concert tour in North America. The latest Gogol Bordello album We Mean It, Man! can be found on the online store "Buymusic.lt".

The music agency "M.P.3", which organized Gogol Bordello's concert in Vilnius, will soon invite audiences to other upcoming events: performances by Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio dantys on August 12 in Šventoji and August 13 in Palanga, Lemon Joy concerts on August 20 in Palanga and August 26 in Vilnius, and a concert by the famous German band Camouflage in Vilnius on October 15.

Photos: Milda Gelžinė (mildaster)