REVIEW: Gypsy Punks GOGOL BORDELLO set a very high bar at Bristol's O2 Academy....

Gogol Bordello are not just a band, they are an idea, a vibe, almost an emotion - “did you have a great night dear?” - “I did, at one point I became quite Gogol Bordellish”.

What better way to kick off the Christmas feels than with the number one Ukrainian gypsy punk funksters in the world. Supported gamely by Scots Peat and Diesel, and occasionally members of, you've guessed it, Gogol Bordello.

No one quite brings the party like Gogol Bordello and this is evidenced by a moshpit that creeps slowly outwards until the whole of the lower level of Bristol O2 Academy was a seething sweaty mass of grinning revellers. Old and young alike, and it was a fair mix, there was no corner of the venue where there was stillness.

Gogol Bordello don't just entertain their audience, they possess them, if not full blown pogoing at least every foot in the place was tapping. Just a few songs in and we get a hat trick of live classics, ‘Immigrant Punk’, ‘Wonderlust King’ and ‘My Companjera’, sent the crowd into a frenzy of bombastic bouncing bliss, and then the fun just keeps going, inviting the crowd to evermore antics.

Shortly before the end of the main set the pace drops and the excitement rises as the first strains of Start Wearing Purple start up. Even if you're a neutral (and no one appeared to be) it's nigh on impossible to not get dragged along in a singalong frenzy during this track, surely a cultural phenomenon akin to ‘Delilah’ or ‘Sweet Caroline’.

An evening of higher and higher peaks has the main set finishing with the adrenaline fuelled ‘Pala Tute’ and honestly instead of beer at the bar they should be serving energy gels like the Tour De France, they'd make a killing.

Bristol seemed grey and drab as we exited, but that's ok as I was still wearing my cloak of excitability. Good night? You bet, I was absolutely Gogol Bordelloed.

Words and Pictures by Rich Dunn