GOGOL BORDELLO + SPLIT DOGS + PUZZLED PANTHER – CHALK, BRIGHTON 24.10.25
Tonight the riot of colour and sound that is Gogol Bordello descends upon Brighton Chalk. Support comes from Puzzled Panther and Split Dogs.
Puzzled Panther who open proceedings are from New York, and their core members are Victoria Espinoza on vocals and Kay Bon Tempo on guitar. On record they’re joined by Brian Chase from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on drums and Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello on guitar. Brian isn’t here tonight but Eugene does guest with them on one song. They’re joined by Rob Mellinger on bass, plus Ty Varesi on guitar and Walt Anriquez on drums. It’s the guitarist’s first time in Europe. How exciting for him!
On the first song Kay Bon Tempo emphasises her Noo Yoik roots by playing a solo straight out of the Television playbook. Most of her solos seem to be angular and unconventional. Victoria Espinoza meanwhile is a classic frontwoman. She has the moves, the attitude, and most importantly, the voice to back all of that up. ‘Give Them ‘Nuff Velvet Rope’ is a stone cold classic. It just hasn’t been universally recognised as such yet. It will be though. The wah-wah’d guitar intro and solo is spectacular, and overall it’s one of those songs that you want to go on forever. On ‘Fits Of Serenity’ both Victoria and Kay are on lead vocals, and Eugene Hutz from Gogol Bordello guests on guitar. Their set finishes with a cover of ‘Dirty Boots’ by Sonic Youth. It’s the most tuneful Sonic Youth cover that I’ve ever heard, whilst simultaneously being utterly cataclysmic. This band are definitely one to watch!
Puzzled Panther:
Victoria Espinoza – vocals
Kay Bon Tempo – guitar and vocals
Rob Mellinger – bass
Ty Varesi – guitar
Walt Anriquez – drums
Eugene Hutz – guest guitar on ‘Fit To Surrender’
Puzzled Panther setlist:
‘Fractured’ (from 2025 ‘Fits Of Serenity’ EP)
‘Venus In Furs’ (Velvet Underground cover) (from 2025 ‘Fits Of Serenity’ EP)
‘Give Them ‘Nuff Velvet Rope’ (from 2025 ‘Fits Of Serenity’ EP)
‘Legs Long’ (from 2024 ‘Puzzled Panther’ EP)
‘Sting of Iodine (Panacea)’ (unreleased)
‘Fits Of Serenity’ (from 2025 ‘Fits Of Serenity’ EP)
‘Dirty Boots’ (Sonic Youth cover)
After the interesting sonic palette of Puzzled Panther, the straight ahead punk of Split Dogs is a little disappointing, but only slightly so. If Amyl And The Sniffers came from Bristol and had grown up drinking scrumpy, they would be Split Dogs. In vocalist Harry they have the almost perfect punk rock voice. They take the stage to Status Quo’s ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’. I guess they’re being ironic right? Likewise, drummer Chris wears a Spice Girls t-shirt. I’m not entirely convinced that they’re one of his musical influences!!! They play a new song. It’s fast, furious and energetic. Then again, so are all of their songs! Harry asks us to sing along to one of their songs. Nobody appears to know it, which is a shame. Their final song includes the line “smoked, choked” which I quite like. It has a pretty cool guitar solo too. I’m not sure whether Split Dogs have ever played the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool. If they haven’t, they really ought to!
Split Dogs:
Harry – vocals
Mil – guitar
Suez – bass
Chris – drums
As stage time approaches for Gogol Bordello I’ve managed to tightly anchor myself to the rail at the front. Gogol audiences aren’t exactly renowned for their passivity! The band come on and start playing along to their intro music (‘State Of Shock’ by The Ex). I’ve never seen any band do this before, and it only goes to emphasise their unbridled enthusiasm. The opening track proper is ‘Sacred Darling’, from their debut album ‘Voi-La Intruder’, which is now an incredible 26 years old! Where does the time go??? It features a near psychedelic violin solo from Sergey Ryabtsev, and some awesome drumming from Korey Kingston. The band have begun as they surely intend to go on. I don’t know whether vocalist Eugene Hutz would consider himself a rabble rouser, but from the very beginning he is certainly rousing this rabble. A rabble of which I am very glad to be part incidentally.
For ‘I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again’ Pedro Erazo joins in on vocals, before hammering out a tattoo on the tom-toms. This song is from the wonderfully titled album ‘Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike’. There are few bands who specifically stand up for the underdogs of this world. Gogol are one of them. Unfortunately in today’s world, more and more people are becoming underdogs, through no fault of their own. ‘Not A Crime’ from the same album demonstrates Gogol Bordello’s musical diversity. Leo Mintek, plays a guitar solo mostly consisting of harmonics, Erica Mancini plays an accordion solo, before Leo plays a more complex guitar solo. With this band there’s always something interesting to watch or listen to, and even in my prime position events move so fast it’s sometimes difficult to keep up!!! ‘Immigrant Punk’ almost has a reggae feel. Incidentally, Gogol are possibly the bounciest band that I’ve ever seen. I know for a fact that I’ve never seen anyone bouncing up and down whilst playing the accordion before! Eugene is such a showman. The audience hang on his every move. During ‘My Companjera’ he wants us to sway, so we sway, at least until the song speeds up anyway!
For ‘Dance Around A Fire’ the girls from Puzzled Panther join in, as does their drummer, who plays percussion. I’m not sure of the origin of this song, so it might be new. Puzzled Panther remain for ‘From Boyarka To Boyaca’, which is actually a cover of one of their songs. How many headliners would cover songs by their support act, with their support act? Very few, I can tell you that. This is a song about connecting with people from Eastern Europe. Eugene is Ukrainian Roma, so this clearly means a lot to him. The pace of the song becomes frantic, and then even faster. Puzzled Panther leave the stage at the end of the song. They probably need a rest, bless ‘em. They’ll be back though.
‘Ignition’ is a new song. It has a violin introduction and Erica Mancini forsakes her accordion for a synth. Fear not though, this isn’t their new electronica direction being unveiled! Eugene is playing electric rhythm guitar for this. Pedro introduces ‘Immigranada (We Comin’ Rougher)’. It’s initially dub flavoured, but becomes faster and more straight-ahead rock. Meanwhile two of the monitors need running repairs from a very grumpy looking tech! ‘We Mean It Man’ is another new song, celebrating gypsy punk. The Puzzled Panther girls are back, and Eugene passes his guitar to Kay Bontempo mid-song. I’m not sure whether she was expecting that but she starts playing anyway. I think it would take more than that to faze her!
Eugene is back on acoustic guitar for ‘Mystics’, which may be another new song. A frantic acoustic intro by Eugene is added to by Sergey on violin before the whole band pile in. At times the whole band apart from the drummer are at the front of the stage, absolutely havin’ it. Leo plays a searing guitar solo, sometimes playing with just his left hand, hammering on. He’s wearing a GBH t-shirt, which says a lot. Serge plays a violin solo spot. He’s stage front whilst the rest of the band retreat to the wings, before coming on for the coda. Someone chucks a leather jacket from midway back, and it lands in the photo pit. An offering perhaps? For ‘Mishto!’ Eugene takes off his shirt. The women in the audience swoon. Possibly. The Puzzled Panther girls are back. They don’t appear to be swooning. Pedro has a bass drum strapped to his chest. The Puzzled Panther girls sing lead. Then Leo and Kay swap guitar solos. It’s all pretty psychedelic.
According to the setlist ‘Start Wearing Purple’ is a short version. It doesn’t feel like it. Apparently the song is about the west side of Ukraine. There’s a drum intro, then a violin solo, then Erica sits on Pedro’s bass drum (very daintily, it has to be said) to solo on accordion. Pedro plays castanets, and the song includes a verse of ‘Gangsters’ by the Specials. This is awesome! I’d love to hear the long version!!! There’s another Puzzled Panther cover, ‘Wataka Wataka’, and the main set ends with a cover of the Angelic Upstarts song ‘Solidarity’, which in many ways epitomises what Gogol Bordello are all about.
Initially Eugene returns on his own. He piles two wooden boxes on top of each other, sits atop them and starts to play ‘Alcohol’. He tells us that “this is the pianissimo version”. It’s probably the quietest passage of music that we’ve heard this evening. I think it may be about the evils of alcohol, so I’ll drink to that. Sergey joins on backing vocals and Erica solos. It’s the relative calm before the storm as the rest of the band return and pile into ‘Undestructible’, which is a suitably rowdy final encore, and includes a quick version of The Stooges ‘TV Eye’. When the band take their final bow they invite the support bands to join them, which speaks volumes about Gogol Bordello. The band are unusual in that they literally come from everywhere: Ukraine, the USA, Brazil and all points in between. They have an important message, which is one of unity and solidarity, and it is one that both the band and their audience carry forward. It’s a message that is more important now than any time in the last forty years. More power to their collective elbows.
Gogol Bordello:
Eugene Hutz – vocals and guitar
Erica Mancini – accordion, synth and backing vocals
Pedro Erazo – vocals, percussion, marimba and mandolin
Leo Mintek – lead guitar and backing vocals
Gill Alexandre – bass
Sergey Ryabtsev – violin and backing vocals
Korey Kingston – drums
Gogol Bordello setlist:
‘Sacred Darling’ (from 1999 ‘Voi-La Intruder’ album)
‘I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again’ (from 2005 ‘Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike’ album)
‘Not A Crime’ (from 2005 ‘Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike’ album)
‘Immigrant Punk’ (from 2005 ‘Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike’ album)
‘Wanderlust King’ (new song)
‘My Companjera’ (from 2010 ‘Trans-Continental Hustle’ album)
‘Dance Around Fire’ (new song)
‘From Boyarka To Boyaca’ (Puzzled Panther cover)
‘Ignition’ (new song)
‘Immigraniada (We Comin’ Rougher)’ (from 2010 ‘Trans-Continental Hustle’ album)
‘We Mean It Man’ (new song)
‘Mystics’ (new song)
‘Mishto!’ (from 2005 ‘Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike’ album)
‘Start Wearing Purple’ (from 1999 ‘Voi-La Intruder’ album)
‘Wataka Wataka’ (Puzzled Panther cover)
‘Pala Tute’ (from 2010 ‘Trans-Continental Hustle’ album)
‘Solidarity’ (Angelic Upstarts cover)
(encore)
‘Alcohol’ (from 2007 ‘Super Taranta!’ album)
‘Undestructible’ (including The Stooges’ ‘TV Eye’) (from 2005 ‘Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike’ album)
