Described as "the perfect festival band", Gogol Bordello has earned a special post in every music blog, and it's about time that they got theirs in this one. I was blessed enough to see the band for the very first time at their Coachella 2008 appearance, and was I ever blown away. If you still haven't had a chance to see this band live, I suggest you find a way to do so (they are touring Europe now, and then the east coast in late December, early January). Seeing this band perform was much more than watching a performance, it was being part of a celebration. It was a celebration of gypsy punk energy and Eastern European drunken insanity. 

It is not easy to rally kids from my generation. Overall, we are very apathetic about life in general. It is even harder to get them all to celebrate a common event with the enthusiasm of a people that have found their reason to love life. However, I believe that at this specific concert, I saw a band do exactly this. Not a soul in the field was still. Lines of twenty or more people grabbed on to one another and danced, screamed, and jumped. Never in my life have I seen such a festivity. And never did the band's energy betray us. From spraying wine over the crazed fans to crowd surfing on a drum, Gogol Bordello created this atmosphere as if there was no other way to perform for a riled-up group of festival go-ers. 

So, I would like to congratulate Gogol Bordello for giving us a reason to celebrate, a reason to be ourselves, and a reason to love music. See just one of their performances from Coachella 2008 here!

-tricia