Dropkick Murphys

Midway through the show, Dropkick’s bassist Ken Casey was pissed. He was introducing “Fields of Athenry,” a song they played at the Boston area burial of Sgt. Andrew Farrar, who died in Iraq, when “Fuck Iraq!” came from someone in the front row. Casey stopped the show. “There’s a difference between supporting Bush and supporting the troops,” he said to the kid, after threatening to kick him in the face. “Show some respect.”
The crowd erupted in cheers.
An admirable sentiment, certainly. But it hardly induced the old spirit of Dropkick Murphys, that Boston punk attitude and Irish pride that has propelled the band’s mass adolescent appeal for 10 years. I’ve lived in Boston. I’ve seen the mural in South Boston that adorns the cover of Sing Loud, Sing Proud. I drank Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day at a Murphys show near Fenway Park.
Isn’t this the same group who sang “Pipebomb on Lansdowne?” Why do they sound like my parents now?
Something got lost along the way. They got older, but their fans did not. They still represent Boston, but now the image they convey isn’t so much boys on the docks, but their overweight fathers at home in Southie, drinking Schlitz and bitching by their rusted-out Cadillacs.
The band looked out of place at its own show, an anachronism afloat in a sea of Hot Topic. The boys looked tired, as if the transition from being your cool older brother’s band to your dad’s band had been rough on them.
Lead vocalist Al Barr plugged through the songs with his trademark snarl. He jumped into the moshing crowd a few times, but looked haggard after a recent hospitalization for stomach pains that had caused the group to postpone their
Japan tour.
When Casey wasn’t berating and serenading the audience in the same breath, he played a lively set. But even he looked a bit like a middle-aged Martin Sheen in punk clothing.
Marc Orrell looked right at home, wailing on his guitar and interacting with the crowd.
For a band so dependent upon the heritage and musical power of the bagpipe, the absence of Spicy MacHaggis — or any bagpiper, for that matter — was conspicuous. But with three guitars and one bass onstage for most of the show, the emphasis was apparently on stringed instruments.
The set featured songs from their newest album The Warrior’s Code and earlier songs like “Which Side Are You On?” The boys also reached back for old school tracks, including “Boys on the Docks” and crowd favorite “Skinhead on the MBTA.” But they performed nothing from The Gang’s All Here. Maybe they figured it would be redundant, since it’s the same album as The Warrior’s Code.
The show was decent, but to see one Dropkick show is to see them all. The crowd loved it, as this age group had loved it 10 years ago — although their biggest thrill was probably being out past curfew on a school night.
- Words & Photos By Johna Jo Toomey

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