Jay Leno seems nervous when he introduces Gogol Bordello here—“My next guests are a gypsy punk rock band who have been called the world’s most visionary band,” he splutters awkwardly. Perhaps he was right to be afraid, because Eugene Hutz’s reputation as an exuberant and confrontational performer often precedes him.
But Leno needn’t have feared anything here, as the band delivers an uplifting version of “Pala Tute” from Trans-Continental Hustle, and Hutz seems relatively muted throughout. The stiff confines of a late night talk show are never going to be the best place to see this band, but they make a decent fist of it here, and Hutz is still one of the most finely mustachioed fellows in the contemporary music scene.
