CLIFTON PARK -- Yes, you could call them "Gypsy punk," if you need to use a typical musical shorthand. Indeed, that's how the band describes themselves.

But the truth of the matter is that Gogol Bordello is so much more than that.

On Friday night in front of a sweltering, sold-out crowd of exceptionally diverse fans, vocalist-guitarist-shaman Eugene Hutz and his merry, electrifying band of Gypsy punks stormed onto the stage at Northern Lights and held the crowd captive for two hours, as they romped through a transformational, high-wattage performance that left many in attendance woozy in the knees.

It's almost impossible not to dance when the eight-piece New York City-based band in is the spotlight. They're like the band that you wished had played at your wedding. Or the band that's simply so good that you'd consider a divorce -- just so you could have them play at your next wedding. Really. They're that good.

The rousing band is led by the endlessly charismatic Eugene Hutz -- he's also an actor who has starred in such films as "Everything Is Illuminated" -- who often spit out the lyrics with equal parts of ferocity and velocity as he strummed away frantically at his acoustic guitar. At other times he stalked the stage shirtless, peering intensely out at the crowd with a microphone in one hand and a bottle of red wine in the other. He was certainly a mesmerizing presence.

But he had a band to back him up, and they played with the same sense of abandon and joie de vivre on such nuggets as "My Companjera," the hot-blooded "Break the Spell" and the epic "Last One Goes the Hope." Accordionist Yuri Lemesheu and violinist Sergey Ryabtsev not only lent the music just the right touch of Romanian flavor, but also the carefree spirit on "Sun Is on My Side" and "Immigraniada (We're Comin' Rougher).' There was also an electric guitarist, a bassist and a drummer to anchor the sound and drive the punk ethos home -- especially during the manic "Mishito" and the rave-up "Start Wearing Purple" -- but the most stellar members of the supporting musical cast were Pedro Erazo and Elizabeth Chi-Wei Sun, who amped up the crowd to fever pitch with their chanting, percussion, backing vocals and most importantly their unflagging energy.

It's been a while since Gogol Bordello made their last Capital Region appearance at the now-defunct Revolution Hall, but let's hope they're back again. Real soon.

Brazilian expatriates Forro in the Dark added to the heady international flavor of the evening with a strong opening set that featured flutist-vocalist Jorge Continentino and percussionist-vocalist Davi Viera in a samba-funk fusion that quickly won over the somewhat skeptical crowd.

Greg Haymes is a freelance writer.