There’s one thing you can count on from a Gogol Bordello show; you’re going to leave it dripping, either from your sweat, everybody else’s sweat, or with some red wine that frontman Eugene Hutz uses to liberally douse the crowd. You’re also going to leave immensely satisfied at having seen one of the best live acts going, period.

California based Jimmy Pinchak composes in an eclectic style borrowing from Rocking Blues music, combined with an Alt-Rock aesthetic. His lyrics share a black humor/self-deprecating sensibility. He writes of the mundane and the complex, and probably doesn’t understand everything but questions what he already knows. His latest debut CD entitled Make it Better captures the spirit of more Blues based rock material from Bon Jovi, Goo Goo Dolls and even Keith Urban.

The venue’s Velvet Jones, a small-to-medium set in downtown Santa Barbara with Zion-I headlining—my first California show. Born and bred in New England, I had zero idea what I should be expecting from the Friday night gig out here on the western coast.