About
Golonka is a band for hire in Adelaide, SA.
Violin, guitar, clarinet, accordion, domra and double bass, playing gypsy and eastern European music out of Adelaide. Golonka work in two moods and let you choose the mix. There are gentle, emotional pieces for a thoughtful room, things like Shostakovich's Waltz No 2 and Zulya's Waltz of Emptiness, and then there are the dance numbers that empty the chairs. Miserlou, Bulgar Freilach, Romano Horo. They've played WOMAD in 2013, toured Japan in 2016, and kept performing since, with a third album, Cut out the Day, released on vinyl. The line-up is four players or five, depending on the booking. Sound gear can come in full, scaled down for a small room, or left at home entirely if you want them acoustic. Festivals of thousands and wedding receptions of a dozen have both been done. Fully insured for public liability, instruments and gear.
Watch
The show
Six instruments, two moods, and you decide the balance. Golonka can play gentle and unhurried, the kind of thing that works while people are eating and talking, with pieces like Shostakovich's Waltz No 2 sitting in that half of the repertoire. Then there's the other half, Miserlou and Bulgar Freilach and the rest, where the chairs empty. They've done festival crowds in the thousands and wedding receptions of twelve people, and the honest truth is the small ones are often the better night.
On the day
Three options on sound. They can bring the full system, a smaller one for a tight venue, or nothing at all and play acoustically, which suits a garden ceremony or a small room. Power is only needed if you want them amplified. Two other things: shade if it's hot, and cover if there's any chance of rain, because the instruments won't take it.
Performance options
Four players or five, and the difference is real rather than cosmetic. The four piece is the leaner sound and fits a smaller room. Adding the fifth thickens the arrangements and gives the dance numbers more push. Bookings run from a single hour, enough for a ceremony or a reception set, up to three hours across a full evening.
Insurance and paperwork
Public liability insured
Song list
54 songs
Zulya Waltz of Empiness
Miserlou
Belly of the Whale
Fairwell Summer
Strange Game
Shostakovich Waltz No 2
Newborn Lamb
Bowler Hat Tango
Tango Ballad
Traveller’s Song
Chim Chimmery
Bistro Fada
King Frog
Pussycat
Matase
Bovril
Adjo Jano
Ale Meyn Libe
Tzur Mishelo
Fairground
Dona
He’s a Clown
Pain of Love
Bulgar Freilach
