These Gypsies and their lead singer, Eugene Hutz, were in my favorite movie called Everything Is Illuminated.

Photographer Ben Schneider (visit his site here) was kind enough to let me publish his dramatic article on my site.

(Elijah Wood and Eugene Hutz)

Gogol Bordello Shares Its Gypsy Heart
Ben Schneider

Real live Gypsies in Providence. No, for real. Real punks. Yes, punks. Punk Rockers, that is. A band called “Gogol Bordello.”

These gypsy ambassadors and ambassadresses brought their colorful fusion of music, along with, presumably some of their much stereotyped, yet perhaps less-often-viewed-first-hand, and of course, less understood, culture to Providence on November 4 to the Living Room.

Violins, a big bass drum, cymbals, washboards, an accordion, folk guitar, gypsy clothing (and a somewhat realistic plastic goose mounted almost inconspicuously on what seemed to be a simulation of a nest, atop an amp stack) – if these elements were enough to bring you into the gypsy world that would be fine, but there was something else in the air, a feeling and energy that these people evoked and communicated, shared and made sure the audience knew. I looked at them, and they were sure they were Gypsy… and I learned.

The house, or should I say, the Living Room, was full of excited people. A mixture of punks, rockers, main streamers, some older folks (in their 40’s or even more mature), and a few who to the naked eye seemed to be fellow Gypsies blended eventually to a seemingly braided multicolored whole of Gypsy allegiance.

One thing I think the band of Gypsies shared is what a Gypsy celebration is like. Not only does it seem amazingly full of energy, excitement, and an undertone of love, the kind of solid, beat your chest, and drink vodka until you are a melancholy manic – Slavic type love, but the kind of love that breaks down stereotypes and makes you realize there is good in the world.

They brought 2 ambassadresses – one with a big bass drum, and the other with cymbals, and both, at times, with washboards as musical instruments, kick dancing in their ethnic-punk outfits. These women were not ornaments, but bold, like Viking ship captains standing defiantly, forging through difficult seas and mists of crowd members and their searing heated sweat, playing their instruments and sometimes shooting what seemed to be T-shirts (using real, oversized slingshots) into their fans’ midst’s.

The lead singer of Gogol Bordello, Eugene Hutz, corralled the crowd, his charisma earnedly uncontested, and his music and musicians, into one big punk, reggae, Gypsy party. His fiery eyes, Old Country mannerisms and boldness, handlebar mustache and Gypsy garb rounded out his lead of this helm.

The energy was Old World familiar, but its flavor was foreign to this writer. a very different kind of happy, and wonderment, was expressed in droves by this colorful cast of Gypsy All-Stars. Such overwhelming energy, that its contagion was difficult to resist. And who would resist it? Here we did not have some stereotypical tourists’ fodder, but real Gypsies, showing real love and real art, the back alley tour of Gypsy Hearts.