RECAP: Flogging Molly, Gogol Bordello & Mariachi El Bronx @ Blue Hills Bank Pavilion BostonEmpty Bottle Evenings

Jun212015June 21, 2015June 21, 2015No Commentby Bake

RECAP: Flogging Molly, Gogol Bordello & Mariachi El Bronx @ Blue Hills Bank Pavilion Boston

Posted in Music

What’s the only thing weirder about a hardcore band from LA calling themselves The Bronx? The fact that they double as a mariachi band called Mariachi El Bronx of course. Their alter ego opened this night of weird but great music to an even stranger crowd: age range from 2 years old to 80, old hippes dressed in tie-dye, girls that looks like Rizzo from Greese and a crunchier version of Lisa Bonet, guys in kilts, people in suits. Yeah I don’t know what else would bring these people together, but Mariachi El Bronx did their best to start things off right, demanding crowd participation and dropping enough F Bombs that parents had to rethink their decision to bring their toddlers 10 minutes into the night. Hey fuck them, they have to learn sometime.

It was cool to hear mariachi music in English because after 10 years of trying to learn my Spanish still sucks. While lead singer Matt Caughthran mixed in some spanish words, he sang mostly in the crowds’ first language when he wasn’t letting the horn section take the lead. I was surprised he could sing at all being the frontman for a hardcore band, but he held his own. Most importantly the band had great energy which was a good warm up for what was about to happen next.

I swear Gogol Bordello were shot out of a cannon to begin their set. Leader singer Eugene Hutz and multi-instrumentalists/hype-men Pedro Erazo and Elizabeth Sun lead a barrage of music, chanting, dancing, and general chaos on stage. Hutz going shirtless made it seem even more impressive, showing that even someone weighing 90 lbs could command the stage if they do it right. Even if they won’t put down the fittingly skinny bottle of foreign wine. It was reminiscent of how Bille Joe from Green Day becomes a punk maestro despite being 5 feet tall. Hutz was constantly moving and it was hard to look away even when surrounded by people on stage. Erazo and Sun when not yelling at crowd were usually drumming on something or in the case of Sun in particularly were wildly flailing around the stage. Sergey Ryabtsev (violIn) and Thomas Gobena (bass) were the steadying presence on stage but even the Il Duce-looking Sergey was marching/running in place, and both were contributing to the gang vocals that made this feel more like a party than a concert.

Gogol Bordello played for 75 minutes without taking a breathe. Starting off with “We Rise Again” and “Not a Crime” they kept the crowd of weirdos out of their seats the whole time. Naturally the oddest looking ducks in attendance were there to support the gypsy punks and they kept clapping and awkwardly dancing as the set wound down with “Wanderlust King” and “Start Wearing Purple”. Even the drunks like me who limited their movement to stop spilling beer all over themselves had to be exhausted just watching the band going nuts for over an hour. It was easy to forget there was still a band left to play.

Flogging Molly came out and played great, and while Dave King did his best to dance him and his guitar around the stage, it paled in comparison to Eugene Hutz. After opening the set with “Screaming at the Wailing Wall”, the Irish punk band played 75 minutes themselves, rocking newer (“Saints and Sinners, “Revolution”) and older (“Devil’s Dance Floor”, “Swagger”) songs alike. Most of my favorites were there like “Drunken Lullabies”, “What’s Left of the Flag”, and “Tobacco Island”, and they even played a brand new song which per tradition meant it was time for everyone to get up and use the bathroom. Still, as they ended the encore with “If I Ever Leave this World Alive”, I felt satisfied but at the same time disappointed because I couldn’t shake the feeling of them being overshadowed by Gogol Bordello. 10 out of 10 times if I am listening to one of the two bands at home I’m picking Flogging Molly, but despite them not closing the night, I left feeling like I need to see Gogol Bordello again. If you ever have the chance, you should do the same.