Gogol Bordello's Tiny Desk Concert

This video may be the peak of the Tiny Desk Concert series. Not to be culturally essentialist, but there is something about Eastern European music that fuels (or is fueled by?) wild improvisation and dancing. Watch in the above video as Gogol Bordello bandleader Eugene Hutz hops onto the desk in NPR’s music offices (16:31). Watch his face at 16:54 and on as he looks into the crowd and then back to his band. When I first watched this video, I was struck by that face. I know how Hutz was feeling in that moment. I’ve felt that while playing with the Balkan Band. Watch his face at 21:03 -- there is a merging of audience and performer that creates a pure kind of joy. It is the give and take -- controlling and being controlled by, that Hutz was looking for at 7:23, where he pulls his hat to his head in despair and says to the non-responsive audience, “you guys are impossible.” Watch the beginning-- the band all behind the desk, where all Tiny Desk Concert bands stand, even during the relatively raucous Immgraniada. By the end, the accordion player has wandered into the audience. The violinist has the backup singer carrying his portable amp around the room. Hutz stands on the desks. The spatial (re)distribution of the band says as much about the music as the sounds they are making does.