GOGOL BORDELLO

Are you familiar with the brooklime, Latin name: Veronica Beccapunga? Don't worry if you're not, it's just a rather nondescript aquatic and riparian plant that can be found in and around just about every Belgian stream, oversized puddle or river. The flower on the plant is not the kind that plays a role in romance, so stick to roses. However, the brooklime did make it into the world press once. That was in 2011, when biologists descended on Durmestad Lokeren and witnessed a strange phenomenon: a bunch of brooklime plants jumped up and down for an hour, while the flowers grinned and enjoyed the commotion. No one has ever been able to explain the phenomenon, but that's without counting the amateur biologists of the Lokerse Feesten: that day, GOGOL BORDELLO was playing in Lokeren. Remember, it was the same evening that Morrissey secured himself a place in the top 10 most talked-about festival shows ever. Gogol Bordello had a packed square dancing, singing along and partying, and believe us, even the plants along the Durme joined in. Fifteen years later, all hotels in East Flanders are fully booked on Monday 3 August, as botanists from all over the world finally get the chance to experience the phenomenon live. Three albums have been released since then, with 2022's Solidaritine making a particularly strong impression on fans and critics alike. Their concerts remain a colourful mix of fairground, football stadium entertainment and a 14,000-strong folk festival. You also know that Gogol Bordello uses a lot of Ukrainian influences in their music, and whether you know it or not, that country is not going through its best years. Can you morally support a country in need by singing along en masse to the party songs of a modern New York punk band? You can, on Monday 3 August on the Grote Kaai along the Durme. Don't pay any attention to those strange men along the water, with their magnifying glasses and cameras. After three songs, they'll stop investigating and dance the pogopolka with Veronica Beccapunga.