thevoid99's Full Review: Live on St. Patrick's Day by Dropkick Murphys
It’s that time once again folks for the “I’ll Show You Mine, You Show Me Yours” W/O, hosted by the King of Rock himself, MattA75. The objective of the W/O is easy, you’re paired with another writer. You make that writer review an album while that writer makes you review another album. In the previous two years, I was paired up with two, esteemed female rock fans, KCFoxy and Aerocat, where I went into the world of the reggae-blues of Dread Zeppelin and the schlock, balladry of Rod Stewart. This year, I’m paired up with another rocker, this time. It’s PacmanY2J, who’s reviewed some albums in rock, ranging from metal, hard rock, and all sorts of stuff including bands like Pearl Jam and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Noticing that he didn’t have a lot of British rock into his repertoire, I decided to make him review a British rock album. He went for the 1996 film soundtrack to the movie “Trainspotting”. PacmanY2J wanted me to review an album by the punk-pub rock group the Dropkick Murphys, and the album I will be reviewing is their 2002 live album “Live on St. Patrick’s Day”.
The music of the Dropkick Murphys can easily be described as the Clash meets the Pogues. Taking the thrash, intense, punk rock sounds of the Clash, mesh it up with a bit of hardcore punk, and add the brash, sloppiness, and Irish pub sound of the Pogues, the Dropkick Murphys are easily one of the best bands to come out of the Boston music scene. Boston isn’t just the home of PacmanY2J and MattA75; it’s also the home of such great bands as the Pixies, Aerosmith, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and other greats. The Dropkick Murphys definitely bring the Irish to the millions and millions of Bostonians as it serves tribute to the great Irish heritage. While the band’s studio records are filled with fun moments, many say the Dropkick Murphys is presented at its best as a live band.
The live album for “Live on St. Patrick’s Day” is definitely one intense live album with fun, hardcore punk songs, short and concise. Add some fun jigs, Irish pub sloppiness, growling vocals and all of that stuff; you have the music of the Dropkick Murphys. The live album was recorded around the St. Patrick’s Day weekend in 2002 at the Avalon Ballroom in Boston for several shows (that included guest appearances from MMB’s Dicky Barrett and former Letters to Cleo singer Kay Hanley). The live shows captured that great spirit of the Dropkick that can be revealed in the live reviews from PacmanY2J’s review (http://www.epinions.com/content_2576064644) and MattA75’s review (http://www.epinions.com/content_2576392324). Twenty-six songs of the Irish, love, booze, and all that fun stuff in over 70 minutes, “Live on St. Patrick’s Day” is one hell of a live album that will make you jig, mosh, and drink yourself silly.
The Dropkick Murphys:
Al Barr-Vocals
“Reverend” Ken Casey-Bass/Vocals
Matt Kelly-Drums
James Lynch-Guitar
Marc Orrell-Guitar & Accordion
Ryan Foltz-Mandolin & Whistles
Spicy McHaggis-Bagpipes
Special Appearances by the Boston Police Gaelic Column Pipes & Drums and the Harney School of Dance Step Dancers.
The album begins an intro with fans chanting “Let’s Go Murphys” as a band of Gaelic musicians called the Boston Police Gaelic Column Pipes & Drums perform, cadence drum barrels and wailing bagpipes as a tribute to their heritage as the band enters the stage. Al Barr yells “Hello Boston” as the band leads to the fast-punk rock of “For Boston” with its wailing bagpipes and crashing punk riffs. The song goes into a fast, crashing rhythm with crashing drums and Al Barr repeatedly singing “For Boston” with Spicy McHaggis blasting a melodic, upbeat bagpipe track. Then bassist Ken Casey screams for “Boys On The Docks” in this sweeping, fast-pub punk song with its blasting guitars from James Lynch and Marc Orrell with its thunderous bass lines and drums from Matt Kelly. Al Barr sings the song’s vocals about the Boston docks with fans singing along to the upbeat, fast lyrics as Casey sings lyrics about the Irish coming to America. “Road Of The Righteous” appears with its raging, Clash-like guitar riffs and upbeat, Irish rhythms as Barr sings the song with its drunken, pub chants that is in the spirit of the Oi punk sound.
“Upstarts & Broken Hearts” is another upbeat, punk song with the tempo being a bit slower as Ken Casey sings the song with his more, high-pitch growling Bostonian vocals. Casey also brings in his thumping, melodic bass lines to Kelly’s upbeat drums and the blasting guitars of Lynch and Orrell that helps bring a powerful intensity to the Murphys’ live sound. “The Gauntlet” arrives with Kelly’s pulsating bass drums as the fans chant “Hey” repeatedly to the momentum-building bass lines and guitar riffs. The song’s intense sound does bring reminder of the Clash’s sound but with a more hardcore edge as Barr returns to the vocals as the song does simmer in some simple, fun punk melodies that are catchy but menacing at the same time. Now we go to the sloppy, fun punk-pub rock of “Rocky Road To Dublin” as Casey sings the song with his Irish-inspired vocals. With references to Dublin, the Murphys bring in some of that old-school Irish sound to their intense punk rock sound as Ryan Foltz plays a soft, washy mandolin track in the background. Casey and Barr go into more drunken, inspired vocals for a break with the fans as Kelly brings in powerful drum crashes with its hard-hitting snare beats.
Kelly then brings in another, pulsating, bass-driven drum track with Spicy McHaggis (cool name) blasting a fast, melodic bagpipe track for the song “Heroes From Our Past”. Barr sings the song as it starts of as a mid-tempo song that just goes straight out into a faster, punk-driven sound. Casey also sings as the band pays tribute to their Irish heroes as they captured the same, old school Irish spirit the way Shane McGowan and the Pogues did in the late 1980s. Casey talks to the fan giving props to the Boston police as they lead to the song “Finnegan’s Wake”. Fans sing the song’s opening lyrics as the band plays through its fast, hardcore sound of raging guitars and thumping rhythms as Barr sings the song through his deep, growling vocals. With its Irish, jig-like tempo, the song blasts through to its punk sound. “Which Side Are You On?” arrives for a more mid-tempo track with James Lynch’s guitar as the fans sing the opening lyrics to the song. The tempo picks up a bit more as Barr sings with Casey’s melodic bass lines pounding through Kelly’s drums. Lynch plays some Irish-inspired riffs as fans sing to the song’s partying lyrics as Barr and Casey asks fans which side are they on.
The band immediately goes to the next song “A Few Good Men” with Kelly’s fast, barreling drums. Followed the blazing, rockabilly guitar textures of Lynch and Orrell, Barr sings the song paying props to a few good men as Kelly pounds incessantly on the drum. The song slows down a bit to a more mid-tempo track with thumping rhythms and smooth, Irish sing-a-long melodies. Casey then yells as he gives some props to the Harney School of Dance Step Dancers and gives more praise to the audience for showing up to see seven guys who can’t play very well (I think they play fine). They lead to the song “Curse Of A Fallen Soul” as Casey sings the song opening lyrics in a slow, fun ballad track with Lynch playing a washy guitar track with fans singing along to the chorus. The song then goes full-throttle into a fast, punk-driven track with its blazing guitars and intense rhythms as Casey gets everyone into an Irish-punk overdrive with fans singing along to the lyrics and clapping to its intense rhythm. The next song is the swooning ballad “The Torch” with Lynch’s smooth, washy guitars as Casey sings the song’s lovely lyrics. Ryan Foltz appears on the song with a washy mandolin and Orrell playing an accordion track as the band go to old-school Irish folk music with a bit of swooning, punk-pop aesthetics.
“Gang’s All Here” brings back the upbeat, pub-punk sound with its melodic, guitar riffs from Lynch and Kelly’s pulsating, Irish beats. Barr sings the song with Foltz playing a mandolin in the background as the band returns to Irish sing-a-long track with its reference to booze and drinking mates as the band sings, “Hail, hail, the gang’s all here”. The band takes a brief break as Al Barr and Ken Casey talk to the fans and brought a guy onstage to propose to his girlfriend in front of the packed Boston crowd. She said yes and the band leads to the love song “Forever” (not the Kiss song written by that no-talent, *ss-clown Michael Bolton). “Reverend” Casey and Barr sing the simmering, smooth Irish-folk love song with its pulsating Irish rhythms and swooning, melodic Irish whistles that is followed by blazing power chords from James Lynch. We now go to a fun, bouncy jig called the “Spicy McHaggis Jig” as he blasts the bagpipes with fans singing to their drunken humor with lyrics about Spicy, who is joined by the fine ladies of Boston, as they all do a fun jig to its smooth, mid-tempo rhythm that becomes a bit more up tempo as Spicy leads the song with his bagpipes and fun jig.
Next is the tribute to the Boston Police called “John Law” with its blazing, crashing punk riffs and Barr’s intense, growling vocals with Matt Kelly playing pulsating, incessant beats with a brash, intensity that only the Ramones could bring. Barr and Casey sing out through the song with the cops in Boston giving thumbs up to the band. Next is the Irish-folk, punk sing-a-long to “Wild Rover” with its swooning whistles from Ryan Foltz and melodic, brash Irish rhythms accompanied by Lynch’s blazing guitars and the drunken, Irish vocals of Barr and Casey singing about booze. Next is a blazing, punk cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s anti-Vietnam masterpiece, “Fortunate Son”. Led by Lynch’s blazing guitars, Casey sings John Fogerty’s angry lyrics of class and war with the band bringing a punk intensity to CCR’s classic song that is an excellent cover, especially in these troubled times of war. Next is the Boston Bruins’ theme instrumental “Nutty” with Casey giving props to the hockey team with its old-school punk vibe of melodic guitar riffs and Bo Diddley-rhythms followed by Casey’s pounding bass lines which is one of the better theme songs for a sports team.
“Good Rats” arrives with Kelly’s barreling, pulsating beats and the swooning, whistles of Foltz that is followed by Lynch’s guitar and Casey’s throbbing bass lines. Barr leads the audience into singing the song as Lynch plays a washy guitar before bringing in crashing power chords for the song’s brash, fun chorus. The band takes a break as the fans chant “Let’s go Murphys” as they return for the encore. Now we come to the traditional “Amazing Grace” (who Casey dedicates to his grandparents, who were at the show) as the fans sing the song’s lyrics with Spicy McHaggis accompanying them on the bagpipes before the band goes to a powerful, punk-driven track as an old traditional song is given a great punk makeover. Now we go to the song, “Alcohol” with its blazing, punk sound of guitars and pulsating drums as Casey sings the song with many joyful references to booze and alcohol, the cause and solution to all of life’s problems as said by Homer Simpson.
“Barroom Hero” opens up with Casey and fans singing to the song’s opening verse as it leads to the Oi, chanting tone of punk. Lynch leads the song with its guitars as Barr and Casey sing the song taking everyone to a fun, chanting stupor with the fans as they briefly play some wartime-guitar riffs as Barr gives props to the Bostonians who showed up for this St. Patrick’s Day concert. Now we go to the great Standells cover of the classic garage song “Dirty Water”. Lynch leads the song playing the great, garage-rock riff to the song as the fans and the band sing-a-long to the song’s fun, sloppy lyrics of Boston led by Barr’s growling vocals as they sing the chorus of “Oh, I love that dirty water, Oh Boston, you’re my home”. Barr leads the fans into singing the chorus as they all say they love that dirty water. The album’s closer is the fun, upbeat “Bloody Pig Pile” as the band gets everyone into a frenzy with pulsating beats and blazing guitars with fan chanting “Oi, oi, oi” repeatedly as they sing about the awful skinheads and bring all the love to the fans of Boston as they close the show with one, intense show.
The “Live on St. Patrick’s Day” album by the Dropkick Murphys is one amazing and intense live album that is filled with a brash, drunken intensity most bands can’t keep up with. While some fans do complain that a few songs didn’t make the final cut along with the guest appearances on that weekend, it is still one hell of a live album. While the intensity and twenty-six songs on this live record is hard to keep up with, it’s still fun to listen to. Now I understand why PacmanY2J and MattA75 love these guys and it’s probably great music to get drunk to without beating up a few people. If there is one album to start with from the Dropkick Murphys, it’s definitely “Live on St. Patrick’s Day”.
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