Dropkick Murphys, Bouncing Souls, The Dwarves & Pressure Point

I hate Punk-O-Rama, but I love The Dwarves. I’ve been waiting for years to see the fucking Dwarves. When I got to the venue I heard that they hadn’t shown up yet. Pressure Point had just started their first song, so I went upstairs and drank beer.

The Distillers didn’t make this gig, so Pressure Point came up from Sacramento to fill the slot. Skinheads — we don’t get many here, so they were kind of a novelty. They brought a lot of their "working class" friends with them, and there were a few skirmishes, but what’s a punk show without them? The sound was good and the crowd was growing throughout Pressure Point’s set. Their sound is kind of punk, kind of oi, loud, hard and fast. They were good but I can live without the rhetoric, " We’re not anti-black, We’re not anti-white, We’re pro-working-class." Personally, I like punk, not politics.

The Dwarves arrived just in time to play, and I can say without hesitation that they fucking rock. They took the stage they played songs from the new album, The Dwarves Come Clean, as well as classics from Blood, Guts, and Pussy and Thank Heaven for Little Girls. Apparently, the tour contract kept The Dwarves clothed, but guitarist HeWhoCannotBeNamed slowly inched his chones lower and lower. The group wasted no time between songs — no pauses, no talkin’, just rockin’. They played what seemed like a quick set, but it was packed with songs. I think that The Dwarves should headline every show they play on credibility alone, but I guess the other guys sell more records.

The Bouncing Souls were up next. I had a beer and everything was good. The Souls play quick punchy punk rock with lots of sing-along choruses. They sounded great and the crowd loved them. They played songs from Hopeless Romantic and older stuff from The Good The Bad and the Argyle. The only negative thing I have to say about The Souls is that their singer lacked on-stage of energy — he was a dead fish. I don’t understand how he could be still with everyone rocking around him. All in all, it was a good set.

I went outside to smoke a cigarette and missed the bagpipes (damn), but I got back in about halfway through the first Dropkick Murphys song. I missed them last time them they were in town, so I was glad to see them, and I wasn’t the only one — the whole crowd moved and chanted along.. The whole set was fast paced, and even though they brought out a mandolin for a few songs, it never really slowed the music down. And the crowd loved it: there were points when the audience was louder than the band. Toward the end of the set, Dropkick cut into "Dirty Deeds" by AC/DC, and by the end of the show, the crowd had engulfed the stage, you could hardly pick the band members out on the stage. It’s good to see a band embrace the audience, letting the kids feel like they are part of the show.

It was a good show, but there was lots of crowd surfing — sorry friends this ain’t a Pearl Jam concert. Still, the mood was positive and everyone had a good time, which is just the way a punk show should be. I just hope The Dwarves come back soon.

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