Dropkick Murphys...St. Paddy's Day 2001...Avalon Ballroom, Boston Mar 17 '01 (Updated Mar 13 '02)    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast From $8 Mai by Eri Sugai From $4 The Bottom Line The Murphys gave a fantastic hometown St Paddy's day performance to a sell out crowd of over 1500 rambuctious fans. When it was announced that local punk favorites the Dropkick Murphys would be playing Boston on St.Patrick's Day this year, I remember thinking to myself "could anything be more appropriate?" And after watching tonight's stellar performance, I got exactly the answer I was expecting...the answer was a loud, resounding, and unified "no." Some may say that is not surprising, but this was the band's 5th show in 3 days, including an afternoon show today that was added to appease fans left out in the cold of the 6pm show that sold out. Local punk rockers Reach the Sky openend the show, mixing songs from older albums along with previewing tracks from their newest CD, Friends, Lies and the End of the World, out on this coming Tuesday. Sadly, they weren't terribly exciting, and for the most part, the crowd seemed to agree with my assessment. As Lars Frederickson (of Rancid fame) stepped out of the shadows with his new side project, called Lars Frederickson and the Bastards. Their debut CD also is released this coming Tuesday, and to say the least, it's a much more interesting form of punk than what is found on the last two Rancid CDs. They went through almost the whole album, and it ranged from the set closing thrash of Vietnam to their cover of the very old Who song Leaving Here. The Swinging Utters were up next, and for the life of me, I cannot figure out why this band has such a cult following. They did nothing to help out my view of them tonight, as they were all drunk and made gigantic asses out of themselves. Nothing more will be said on their performance. And then, the hometown heroes took the stage. The crowd was amazing tonight, shouting out lyrics loudly and proudly (just as the title of the new Murphys album tells you to do), raising their fists in unison, and for the most part, being respectful. The band relied heavily on Sing Loud, Sing Proud for most of their set. They opened with the shout-along For Boston, and then ripped right through 2 more songs from the new record (an exact order escapes me at the moment). The band pulled out all the stops for this show, which was being broadcast on local radio. During the mini two song acoustic set, Lars came out and helped out on guitar, invoking the sell out crowd of over 1500 to scream out the lyrics to The Torch even louder and with more enthusiasm. I also give the band a lot of credit for coming out with the energy they did. 5 shows in 3 days is a lot, and yet the band seemed as energized as a band that just had a week's vacation. While the crowd and the hometown feeling certainly had something to do with that, it can't be everything. By the time the band came back out for the encores, which consisted of Amazing Grace, a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Fortunate Son, and the band's own classic Skinhead on the MBTA, the audience was more than satisfied. For a 75 minute performance, the Murphys gave you a lot of bang for your buck tonight. I strongly suggest catching them on this current tour with the above mentioned opening bands, which runs through April 10th. Dropkick Murphys Setlist, 3/17/01 For Boston Legend of Finn MacCumHail Which Side Are You On? The Rocky Road to Dublin Barroom Hero The Gauntlet Good Rats Blood & Whiskey Finnegan's Wake Heroes From Our Past The Torch (W/ Lars Frederickson) The Gang's All Here (W/ Lars Frederickson) Curse of a Fallen Soul The Fortunes of War The Wild Rover Never Alone Spicy McHaggis Jig Far Away Coast Boys on the Docks ----------------------------------------------- Encore: Amazing Grace Fortunate Son Skinhead on the MBTA (With snippet of AC/DC's Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap)

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