Gogol Bordello announce New Year’s shows in NYC & Philadelphia (BrooklynVegan Presale)

Right in between Bad Religion and the Misfits on the Riot Stage, the adjacent Roots Stage hosted Gogol Bordello, who were a change of pace and a major highlight. Every Gogol Bordello show is a ton of fun and has off-the-charts energy levels, and this one was no different, but because of the war in Ukraine, the band's Ukrainian-born singer Eugene Hutz also made this an especially powerful show that leaned as heavily on activism and celebrating Ukrainian culture as it did on flat-out fun. Eugene had also co-hosted a Ukraine tribute on that same stage hours earlier with a local group of Ukrainian dancers, and he brought those dancers back on stage with him during Gogol's set, which was met by huge cheers from the crowd. Eugene also shouted out how the festival's lineup celebrated so many originators of punk and hardcore, and then he did an acoustic cover of Agnostic Front's "Victim In Pain," and changed the last line to turn the context into a Ukrainian folk punk protest song. Gogol celebrated human rights, punk history, and the power of dance with all the passion you could ask for. They were a last-minute addition after Bauhaus unfortunately had to drop off, and what a great addition they were.

More Riot Fest coverage here.