Despite the fact their music appeared somewhat repetitive and the banter was sometimes annoyingly megalomaniacal, I was in awe of their full throttle energy for well over an hour.

Both bands were touring fairly new albums, The Hives' just released The Black and White Album, and Gogol Bordello their album released last fall, Super Taranta. But while their recordings are fun, they suffer in comparison to events like tonight. They are spectacular live, which can’t be bottled, even with the most state of the art recording gadgets. Tonight these two bands generated enough energy to power the City of Lights for a whole month. Raw Power? At least Medium Rare. Raw Fun? Definitely.