Concert Review
Event: The Dropkick Murphys
Date: October 9 2024
Venue: Union Events Center
City: Salt Lake City, Utah
Supporting acts: The Scratch, Pennywise
There are certain bands that once you hear them, become part of your listening habits for the rest of your life. One such act is the Irish Folk Punk band from Boston, “Dropkick Murphys”. I got into “The Murphys” when I moved to Boston in late 99, I was at an Irish bar in my kilt, just chilling with other guys in kilts, and they asked if I was going to “The Gig”. I had no idea who they were, as they were just a local act at the time. The cover I believe was 7$ at the bar around the corner. I found the place to be completely decadent, packed with more kilted punks than I had ever seen before. It was cramped, but moving, as we would move forward with each wave of punters climbing onto the stage and turning around and diving back over us. We would simply move them back as we moved forward. They were LOUD, RUDE, and so much fun, as a punk show should be.
They were a rotating “House Band” at one of probably 3 venues and the cover was much the same, venue might be different depending on the weekend, as they often played opposite another Boston fave “Flogging Molly”. I went to probably close to 20 gigs of theirs in my time there, as they were often a fallback option when other plans didn’t come through. OR just, hey, let’s go see “The Murphys”. The first time I paid real money to see them was in 2021 when they shared the stage with “Rancid” in Salt Lake.
My father was extremely proud of being Scottish, and oftentimes would trash talk the Irish, with the typical dislike for “Cultural Cousins”, but he often said, “The Irish always have better music”. This gig was on my late father’s birthday, and he was there in spirit (or spirits).
This time on the road they were with “The Scratch”, a sort of hippie drum act, and punk favorites “Pennywise”, quite a lineup for one evening.
The Scratch
“The Scratch” took the stage as a 3 piece, with the singer playing a square drum pad with some funky drumsticks. They played a short set, and were so different from the other two bands, and set the mood for “Expect Anything”.
Pennywise
Punk veterans Pennywise took the stage and rocked the house, they were the last breed of American Hard Core Punk right before EMO became a favored genre. They opened with “Peaceful Day” and churned out some great anger-releasing songs, most notably “Every Single Day” and “Fuck Authority”, they went into a couple of NOFX covers, “Bob” and “Kill All White Men”. They were all over the place with their material from old albums, and covers of “Bad Religion” “DO What You Want”. And they threw all of us off the train and played “Stand By Me”, and asked us all to sing along. They closed their set with “Bro Hymn”.
Dropkick Murphys
With the venue’s lighting turned down to the bare fire escape exit signs, and the crowd cheering the intro “The Foggy Dew” as sung by Sinead Oconnor began to play, the punters clapped and the pipes got louder and louder the band took the stage. Starting with the drummer pounding loudly, the spotlight illuminated the piper, Ken Casey the vocalist ran onto the stage as if from out of nowhere swinging his fists up in the air like an uppercut from “Popeye” and a grunt into “WHOOOOOAHOOOOOOOAH”, we were into another set of sheer chaos, compliments of “Dropkick Murphys”.
They opened the set wide and loud with “Cadence To Arms” with a small catwalk panel going into the pit, leaving us no real room to maneuver, the band members were standing back in positions, letting Ken move around getting right up to everyone, like normal, he was all over the stage, going from one band member to another then back to the front.
Ken let out “Oh Salt Lake City IT’S GREAT TO BE BACK” and they played the song that kickstarted them into stardom “The Boys Are Back”, with the new guitarist running up front, and the punters all singing along with them, it was less like the band singing it for us, but everyone singing together, in a rough voice, sounding more like one of those late 70s “OI” band… Only with bagpipes and an accordion.
He walked past me and gave a fistbump, and I doubt he recognized me from all those Boston gigs.
They gave us “Johnny, I Hardley Knew Ya” with a very strong Boston accent on “Haroo, Haroo”, though it might be old, and we all heard our fathers singing it, they made sure to give it to us as PUNK as it gets. With hard guitar chords, and even an electric banjo, the crowd chanted along with Ken on vocals then he would hand the mic to the crowd for “JOHNNY I HARDLEY KNEW YA!”
They had just released a few days before this gig their politically charged new single “Sirens”, Ken announced it as the new one and that they were having fun learning to play it live, and now it was our turn.
This song is a punk anthem about the injustice of how the working class is being pushed to its limits, and being forced to make sacrifices and turn against each other. This theme isn’t new, and this song could have been on any setlist of Dead Kennedys, Rancid, GBH, Agnostic Front, or any of the hardcore punk greats addressing the current social situation.
By the time they got to “Smash Shit Up” most of the punters were pretty well lit on rum, whiskey, or a good beer, and yes there were the token several thousand of us in our kilts. Ken said, “This one is to appreciate those of us who are older, and we accept that, but ….. I still want to break things, maybe more now than I used to”. That had the moshpit widening, and more activity in it, as if those of us over 50 wanted to prove that we weren’t getting old. I’m sure several of my mates limped out of that one.
Ken Casey was the original bassist and backup vocalist, but by now, he is on lead vocals, which did make it somewhat unusual when he kicked off “Flannigan’s Ball” a total classic. The band sang the verses, Ken handed the mic to the punters for the lines “Six long months doing nothing at all.
Six long months spent in Quincy learning to dance for Flannigan’s ball”. Now this song always bewildered me, because I have spent nowhere near 6 months in Quincy Massachusetts, but I have spent enough time to know, there isn’t really much happening there. So, the story behind this song really lights up about a guy Brian who left Milton Mass, and tore it up there, opening a pub where all the Irish converged, and lived to regret it.
Now the song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is a classic, from the musicals of Rogers & Hammerstein. However, outside of that musical, I have never heard it performed sober, or in key. Thus the Murphys delivered it to us, as a singalong of course, and I can swear on my mother’s grave that the guys on stage singing this song, might have been sober, and were even in key. But all of the punters were neither, just loud, and very very happy.
With the classic “The Warrior’s Code”, a song written for large mosh pits, the Union Events Center probably hadn’t seen a pit like this since the last time “Ministry” rolled through, people were climbing on shoulders and diving into this pit. Everyone who wanted to be in there was dancing and having a great time, while us older guys had gone up to the mezzanine level by now.
We got “Good as Gold” and “Barroom Hero” everyone yelling and swinging fists on “HIGH HIGH HIGH” and everyone dancing in place long enough to need a breather.
They gave us “The Irish Rover” a Joseph Crofts cover, at Dropkick Murphys speed, just to keep the spirits high.
Things slowed down for the anthem, and salute those who have gone on before us, and pay tribute to what made all of us who we are. The haunting sounds from the accordion and mandolin kicked off, as the lights all went red, to give a somber feeling, and the lines “The pictures tell the story, this life had many shades” we were into “Rose Tattoo”, with the entire venue singing along in a hoarse harmony. Everyone knew this one and sang along with vigor until the final lines “Signed and sealed in blood “I would die for you”.
We all gave ourselves a round of applause because the Murphys are the kind of band you sing along with them, just because they asked.
After another boisterous epic “The State of Massachusetts” Ken Casey went up to the front of the little catwalk stage and high-fived everyone that was within reach. He explained that he couldn’t get down there with everyone because he had broken his heel earlier on the tour and that he should be in a boot, and he knew he was going to suffer for it.
With cheers and jeers, he asked everyone to put their arm around the person to their left and their right and to sing along with him “Kiss me, I’m Shitfaced”, everyone laughed, and I am pretty sure everyone was lit by then, I did see a lot of people following up with the songs lyrics.
Ken and the band were pretty hoarse by now, and it was time for everyone to contribute to the classic with a standard marching beat, and the accordion for the lead on “Shipping Up to Boston”, (WHAAAOOOOOO) and we all cheered “TO FIND MY WOODEN LEG”. It was at this moment, that I realized that as Heavy Metal would have it, the bass line hitting all the same notes with the same gusto as the lead guitar and rhythm guitars. The Murphys were doing the same thing, but it was with the accordion, mandolin, and bass guitar, as tight as could be you could barely fit a razorblade between each note played.
They finished that first set and returned with some banter about how they had amassed such a following over the years, and played ’60s music, metal, folk, and punk to give us what was on the menu that evening. They finished with “Workers Song” from the album “Blackout”, a staple for live shows since the release.
With everyone’s voices thrashed, on stage, and all the punters, walking out of the venue sweating, as one of the larger punk crowds for a show, I think only the sound guys didn’t sound like the rest of us.
The Murphys are such a great live act, with all the lineup and set changes over the years, it’s always going to be worth it, no matter what it takes to get there. This was one of the last handful of shows on this part of the tour before they were off to Australia. There are some dates planned in the States later this year, so grab a gig if you can, and, Happy Birthday Dad.
Look for a date here, and catch them if you can, YOU REALLY WANT TO.
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