Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

(Still) Jung and Crazee

Though he tends to gloss over this fact in interviews with national and international media, long before Eugene Hutz was a model (of both the clothed and nekkid variety), a movie star, or palling around with the Material Girl, he was the front man of locally legendary Burlington punk outfit, The Fags. And his last name was still Nikolaev. Revisiting that band’s excellent Eastern bloc-flavored back catalogue reveals how the Ukraine-born Hutz transformed himself from small-town rocker to the leader of globe-trotting Gypsy-punk hedonists Gogol Bordello. Though his current outfit displays more flair for the theatrical, the enigmatic firebrand’s charisma was undeniable, even back in the day. And it’s certainly served him well since. See for yourself as Gogol Bordello plays a two-night stand at the Higher Ground Ballroom this Saturday and Sunday.