Live

ENTER THE HAGGIS – The Half DooR, Hartford, CT (January 2007)

Leave a comment

The Half Door in Hartford has had some of the coolest bands on the east coast come to it, some well known some now long gone but not forgotten. This night in January hosted a band now just about to make it huge, a band years in the making snuggled up in the great white north of Toronto, now here in the insurance Capital of the country was Enter the Haggis. An unusually warm January night I must admit, but it worked to my parties advantage as we were pushed outside by the huge crowd that began to fill in the bar.

Luck was on our side though because they waitress said she would serve us out there and that is where we ended up holding court for most of the night, and where I got a chance to have a sit down with Brian the somewhat ringleader of the band. This is an act that looked like a couple of years ago Brian was going to end up being the front man of this rising group, he did most of the singing, he was the flashiest being the dyed spiky hair fiddle player that jumped all over the stage, and boy did the girls love him. When I asked Craig if there were any deep dark secrets about the band he told me that Brian wears a thong, which when I asked Brian’s girlfriend, who you will meet at the merchandise table at almost every show they do, she said that was completely untrue, which leads me to believe I found out why he’s most famous with the little ladies, he wears no underwear!

Sorry I got completely sidetracked off my point talking about underwear, where was I? Oh yes the changing of the guard in front man status. This was due to an unfortunate at the time vocal strain on Brian’s part. It forced the other guys to step, write some songs and sing a lot more tunes. This actually in my opinion was the best thing to happen to the band before getting signed to UFO records. The pain and suffering of their lead vocalist forced them to a more diverse and cohesive act. Spreading the front around to Trevor, and sometimes Craig, leaving Brian to rest and get his health back was where a lot of the new and more mainstream band. This coincided with there conscious decision to stop wearing the kilts. Of course Craig still does on occasion, and I’m really glad James doesn’t sitting as he has to behind the drums, but as Brian put it, they felt it was becoming their gimmick, something they desperately wanted to get away from, and who can blame them, I wouldn’t want people to come see the funny band that wears kilts if it were me.

I’ve known these guys since the fall of 2003, where I first approached them in the Half Door during a show there, which at that time had all of 30 people there. Now just a few years later the same bar was stuffed elbow to elbow with young and old trying to get a god ear to the music. The numbers are clear their new effort put out by their new Indie label is getting them lots of new fans. With a ranking in Billboard world as #8 and iTunes World as#2 with Soap Box Heroes they are making their mark in this genre. I guess they are like the pot of Irish rock because they are a great gateway drug to the rest of the genre. There are great no holds barred Irish rock groups like Flogging Molly, The Tossers and Dropkick Murphy’s, but for someone that has never been introduced to the genre before, the previous will be more than most can take. But give a newbie a Enter the Haggis CD and they’ll get into it for sure, give ‘em a month of the stuff and they’ll be listening to Shite N’ Onions radio and buying everything they hear.

Apparently when I started the interview and writing I had a great big plan in my head, I went around interviewed Brian, got words from the rest of the boys and even interviewed Brian’s girlfriend about music and the band at length, but I have so far done nothing but paraphrase and used very little of what information I have gathered. However I believe these guys will agree that they are a band to experience, not dissect and over analyze. These guys put on one of hell of a live show, whether it be on a giant outdoor stage or on a 4×8 piece of plywood as it was this night. With equipment taking up most the stage, gear blocking the hallway to the men’s room, and way more people than there ever should be in the room we were in they didn’t make it seem so bad. The feeling they gave us as an audience right away was that it was alright, we were going to rock despite the up hill battle we’re facing.

So what’s new with the boys, new live CD gets recorded this march in Northampton, MA. So this will be your chance to get on a Enter the Haggis CD, you just gotta get your tickets, they sell out quite fast when they come to the Ironhorse, and I’ll see you there! .

Review by The Rover

Live

THE TOWN PANTS, THE MCGILLICUDDYS -Shite’n’Onions CD release party -The Limerick Junction, Vancouver BC (September 30, 2006)

Leave a comment

Vancouver isn’t that far away from Boston I guess.
The whole night could have been schizophrenic, maybe the club wanted to cover their bases–the poster was billing the show not only as a Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day event but also the west coast CD release for the Shite’n’Onions “What the Shite” Vol. 2 CD compilation of Celtic rock bands of which British Columbia gets two entries with Vancouver’s The Town Pants and Victoria’s The McGillicuddy’s.

And on the same weekend that the Dropkick Murphys, Bad Religion, Rancid and Billy Bragg were all in town doing concerts all over the city, it didn’t lessen the turnout for an audience of at least 300 people that packed into the relatively small confines of the recently opened Limerick Junction, which was previously the Gastown punk-rock bastion The Brickyard. The night started up with The MCGILLICUDDY’S. Despite that the band doesn’t come over to Vancouver from the Island that often, they certainly had a few vocal fans out to see them including a pretty loud mowhawked guy in an Exploited t-shirt. McGillicuddy’s singer Mike Walker has learned a trick or nine from Mike Ness’ vocal style and the band (with requisite cute girl bassist) raced through a pretty solid set with songs from their “Kilt By Death” CD which includes “On the Rocks” featured on the Shite’n’Onions comp. They played a couple of covers including “If I Should Fall From Grace with God” and “The Leaving of Liverpool” and halfway through the set drummer Brent Restal drum pedal broke which forced Walker to tell a long joke to buy time to fix the drums, and they lost a bit of momentum but got it back quickly enough. Later on, Walker bashed Arsenal football club and made some soccer references I didn’t get. Maybe the British folks in the audience got it? The McGillicuddys tried to stir up some good natured trouble with some banter of Vancouver/Victoria rivalry, but I think the McGillicuddy’s made some new fans here in Vancouver and any band that has their amps speaker fabric replaced with tartan deserves points.

After a pretty quick changeover it was The Town Pants turn. This being their first local show in months after a long tour back east, the hometown crowd was certainly there to see them and the dance floor was filled and pretty lively from the beginning.
While the McGillicuddys play Celt music with a more punk style, The Town Pants play Celtic rock with a roots edge. More a rock band employing a folk style than the other way round, they have their own distinctive sound, a sort of folk n’ roll.
Their first show back in some time, they played like there was no tomorrow and though the sound system’s heavy bass emphasis of the sound was at times unkind to the banjo and tin whistle, but the band was obviously more interested in getting the audience moving than displaying so much instrumental subtlety. The group started with “The Weight of Words” which is the track included on the Shite’n’Onions compilation, a song that with Ryan Robbins sitting in on dijeridoo gives it an Australian spaghetti western type rhythm to it.

The Town Pants stormed through favorites like “Monahan the Mutineer” and even a cover of Steve Earle’s “Galway Girl”, joined by a new bass player and a drummer who played like hell but looked oddly out of place with a ball cap on. The heavy bass PA sound was unkind to the banjo and tin whistle but it didn’t deter the Keogh Brothers from singing and strumming like possessed Everly Brothers on speed, and Aaron Chapman delivering some pretty funny stage banter between songs and his tinny-tootlings on the whistle. The group brought out some special guests to play with them, again with a very animated Ryan Robbins from Hellenkeller who danced around between dijeridoo bursts like a drunken witchdoctor and later a surprising appearance by Battlestar Galactica actor Aaron Douglas, who apparently is a Town Pants fan. Douglas stepped out on stage for to sing along for a song. I half expected to see the X-Files smoking man or that MacGyver guy from Stargate be the next special guest–that’s “Hollywood North” for you. Either way all present were clearly having a good time. Maybe it was the shocking amount of drinks some audience members were buying the band and bringing up to the front of the stage? Though I wondered how many the band really got to drink. I saw a lot of the dancing audience members bumping into drinks trays and accidentally knocking them over as they were being carried to the stage. Whoever mopped the floor at the end of the night must of had to stay late.

The whole audience was a pretty generous mix of college crowd, punkers, rockabilly types, and even some older folks…Towards the end of the night I saw a bunch of guys that looked like Rugby players in Dropkick Murphys shirts showing up to the bar and hang around at the front. I guess the show had sort of become the unofficial after party for the Dropkicks show, and they we’re singing along to the Town Pants songs no less hoarse from the show they’d just been to.

I had to split to get up early for work in the morning and the last thing I saw as I headed out the door was seeing that Mowhawked Exploited fan I’d seen earlier in the night making out with a cute girl wearing a Town Pants shirt. And the sight made for a perfect summation of the good vibes going on amongst both the Town Pants and McGillicuddy’s fans and everybody there in for a pretty great night of Celtic rock and roll.

Review by Ray Stonehouse

Live

There’s Clare! – Black 47, Jackdaw, The Gobshites, IceWagon Flu Rockin’ The Catskills (September 2006)

Leave a comment

I looked down just about every bottle of beer that was put in my hand, all the way to the bottom and did not find her anywhere. For three days we looked and she just wasn’t at the bottom of any of my glasses, where could she be?

I did find the Gobshite himself Pete Depressed wandering around all weekend looking to, he couldn’t find her either. We sat and talked it over, he convinced me to start my own band and actually be in it instead of just managing it. I told him I can’t remember lyrics to save my life, he said he was the same way when he got his start, yeah but has no one heard of you can’t teach a old dog new tricks and I’m the oldest dirtiest mangiest mutt out there. So after convincing me I decided that I couldn’t be distracted anymore and move on to the other side of the bar thinking I saw Clare over there. Well when I got to that side of the bar she wasn’t there but my old bag squeezing friend Joe from Black 47 was there hanging out with P2. Himself and I looked down a few bottles for her while we regaled days of old. We still couldn’t find her for the life of us.

Well finally Icewagon Flu got off the stage, and I was sure they would know, but at last after grabbing more bottles and searching down the one they was sure she would be, she once again eluded us. My brother was sure the shooter girls would know and pursued them for the truth rather vigorously, they didn’t know and he paid for his interrogation in the morning for sure, with memory loss, extreme loss of motivate to continue the hunt early, and strange unexplained headaches.

As The Gobshites played I was too distracted to look, as I felt compelled to sing along to there haunting love ballads and sweet classical music. Still riding on the high of such a great energy filled live set from Icewagon Flu, the Shites were able to step it up even one more notch. I’ve always said it’s not really how good the band plays there instruments, but how well they play the crowd, and this weekend showed why these particular bands are the top of the music scene for sure. But I digress, this is a hunt for Clare and I can’t be distracted!

I return to the bar with the indifferent and not to helpful bartenders opened a couple bottles that I might be where I’d find her, but no luck, I’ll just have to keep looking, but wait who’s on now? That old blond haired leprechaun in green shoes just jumped up wailing on his guitar, this could be interesting. All this determined searching for Clare also pulls me towards distraction after continuously being disappointed of not finding her. So I decide to get around me a good group of folks and chat up the dealings of the weekend and listen to that ever popular Black 47 organized noise. Joe was up there squeezing has bag in front of everyone in between swigs from a mystery bottle.

As they start pouring them off stage, I thought the night was just about over as my search and rescue funds were running really low, my brother and I were feeling a little odd as if there was some sort of narcotic like alcohol injected into our veins. It seemed that we were never going to find this mystery woman Clare. We began at that time to say our goodbyes.

Then as if the lighthouse shining through the fog giving us bearings, there she is right up on the stage the Gobshites were just on two hours ago! She was with the Jackdaw guys all night; boy was it worth the wait. They were a great bunch of lads and they even played a song about her that is still stuck in my head. I stayed and said the hell with the search and rescue funds, and drained them rabidly ready to stumble back to the tent, I’m sure we’ll find her again in the morning.

Review by Therover413

Live

Dropkick Murphys – The Showbox, Seattle WA (October 2005)

Leave a comment

Just got back from a really great DKM show here in Jet City! DKM rocked The Showbox with a nice, tight, energetic, fast-paced show that left little time if any time for the good sized crowd to catch it breath moving from song to song briskly but orderly. (If orderly can be used in this context.)

Starting off with “You’re Spirit’s Alive”, they moved through some of their new stuff, naturally, like “Sunshine Highway”, “Walking Dead”, “Citizen CIA”, “The Burden”,”Captain Kelly’s Kitchen”, “warrior’s Code” their older stuff, “Worker’s Song”, “Which Side Are You On?”, “Skinhead On the MTBA”, the “Spicy McHaggis Jig” with the ladies in the crowd on stage of course and ended with a cool cover of “Halloween” (yes, the one by the Misfits!) I’m sure I might have left one or two out but my ears are still ringin’. They never do “Good Rats” though…

During the set they also did a rather subdued version of “Fields Of Athenry” in honor of fallen USMC Sergeant Andrew Farrar who said in a letter to his family that he wanted the Murphy’s version of the same to played at his funeral if he didn’t make it back from Iraq. Sadly, he did not. The band has done a special limited edition of this and has made some copies available for sale with all proceeds going to the Farrar family.

On a side note, Ken Casey did a really cool thing during the show. There was a mohawked young kid at the front of the crowd with his father who was apparently having a bit of a problem with the crowd so Ken had one of the roadies get him out of there and on the side of the stage for a breather. Marc Orrell gave him a neat up close show as well.

Good on ya lads!

The opening acts, Lost City Angels and Gang Green were pretty good too. (Darkbuster was supposedly on the bill as well but I didn’t see ’em.) LCA did a nice set but the highlight was Marc Orrell from DKM doing vocals on Gang Green’s cover of “Sin City” by AC/DC. Speaking of Orrell, this guy is a dynamo on stage! He rarely takes a moment off and is gangbusters throughout.

Afterwards, there was a meet and greet along with a benefit for the Farrar family at a local pub. This was great fun as well with the band meeting everyone and auctioning off some signed goodies.

I was struck by how “everyday” these guys were. They were having a great time meeting and talking to everyone and didn’t come off with any kind of negative vibe at all. This was a great ending to the night.

All in all it was well worth the time and money. If you have a chance to see them, do it, you won’t be disappointed.

Definitely better than both their Moore Theater and Warped Tour gigs but those were venue related. The Moore HAD seats all the way to the stage, thus no pit, until there was some creative “redecorating” and the Gorge, as great as it is, is too big. Dropkick Murphys are best enjoyed in close and with full volume.

Thanks for the awesome show guys! See ya next time…

Review by The Blackstuff

Live

Flogging Molly/Street Dogs/The Briggs: House of Blues, Orlando – (September 22, 2004)

Leave a comment

I’ve seen The Briggs before, when I saw them open for Street Dogs on their Maiden Voyage Tour last year, and they were decent. When I saw them last, I’d just seen Dropkick Murphys two days before, and I’d seen so much bad punk (the opening acts) over a three-day span I was getting sick of the genre.

Same here — not bad, but I was here to see the last two bands. The Briggs got a lot of support from the crowd — apparently a lot of people were there to see this on this particular night. The band (who I don’t know as much about as I should) has a pirate theme (singer Joey LaRocca came out onstage in a captain’s hat that I think Ted Knight wore in “Caddyshack”), but I couldn’t tell if that made any difference in the music at all.

The last time I saw the Street Dogs was a year ago, and I had forgotten how good they were as a live band (though that show was in the now defunct Venom in St. Petersburg in front of about 20 people — sadly the night of Game 7 between the Red Sox and Yankees). The Briggs had asked the obligatory “Are you ready for Flogging Molly?” and also said, “And the Street Dogs are here!” The former got a big cheer, the latter barely anything (except for maybe me). So I wondered how many people there had heard of them. Not surprisingly, Mike McColgan makes the band a great live act, stalking the stage like a predator. He actually would give a nod to the fans who were singing the songs, pointing to them and thumping his chest in a show of appreciation.

The Boston band started with “Savin Hill” and moved right into “Jakes” and “Cut Down On the 12th” and a few of us were rocking out. You could tell who knew the band and who didn’t, but I heard a lot of people behind me singing along with McColgan. Other highlights: McColgan actually came out into the crowd to sing the start of “Fighter”, and had Flogging Molly’s Matt Hensley guest on a new song, “Tale of Mass Deception.” A great performance from one of the best live bands I’ve seen recently— I wish Street Dogs had more material, and am very much looking forward to their new “Back to the World” due in January 2005.

Ah yes, then Flogging Molly came out much to the delight of the crowd, which seemed like the majority had a two-page paper on the Louisiana Purchase due next week. They are also one of the The crush near the stage was impressive. I saw them at the Masquerade in Tampa back in March and I didn’t remember it being this bad. It of course was claustrophobic, hot, humid and sweaty. (After the show, my fingers wrinkled like I was swimming — I forget, is this normal?)

But though I was glad to be out of the mass at the end, I was disappointed the show was not longer. The songs from the new CD that you would imagine are great live songs — “Screaming at the Wailing Wall”, “Seven Deadly Sins”, “The Light From a Fading Star”, “Whistles The Wind” and “Tomorrow Comes A Day Too Soon” — didn’t disappoint.

Of course, the new material means that some of the songs I enjoyed in the past may have faded from their live repetoire, most notably in my case, “The Worst Day Since Yesterday.” In any event, they didn’t play it this night.

How Dave King (and the rest of Flogging Molly, for that matter) does this night after night almost mystifies me. If I started high-stepping like he did during Dennis Casey’s guitar solo on “Black Friday Rule”, I’d be sore for days.

Lastly, I’ve seen Flogging Molly five times in the past two years, and every time, I’ve seen some of the the band interacting with the fans before or after the show. I cannot overstate how much I appreciate this. (To be fair, Street Dogs and The Briggs were also hanging around the merchandise counter after the show, so props to them too.)

Hopefully, we’ll see Street Dogs and Flogging Molly hook up again for a show — it’s a great combination.

As an aside, the show also had a film presentation from Jello Biafra’s Punk Voter organization that got cheers from the Bush haters in the crowd, laughs for a Will Ferrell impression of Bush and elicited at least one shout of “Fuck politics!” So, um, vote. Or something.

Review by Rob Shore

Live

The Street Dogs / Contential – TT the Bears, Cambridge, MA (December 19, 2010)

Leave a comment

December 23, 2010

Somewhat a secret gig this one – a fund-raiser for the Boston Fire Fighters Fallen Veterans Fund – the gig was billed as Continental, The Fenian Sons and Special Guests. It wasn’t hard to figure out who the special guests were – punk-rockers, firefighters and ex-members of Dropkick Muphys (and especially since Continental opened for The Street Dogs at the legendary Paradise club the prior night).

Up first were Boston’s The Fenian Sons playing for the first time “over the river” in the Peoples Republic of Cambridge. Solid workman-like Irish ballad/rock group – most of the songs were well know standards with a few originals mixed in – “Boston Irish” was a stand out. I’ll definitely go see these guys again.

10.00 saw Rick Barton and his new band Continental hit the stage and they hit the stage hard. It would be unfair to call these guys a great punk band cos that would be so limiting – maybe a great LOUD rock’n’roll band. Barton at 50 (and he proudly told us so. A lot.) plays with the energy and passion of a man half his age in fact I’d say most 25 year olds would struggle to keep up and certainly would not have the shitty life experiences that Barton bleeds through his songs. Unfortunately, the Patriots football game as playing on a big screen behind the bar and as good as the band were the game as a bigger draw.

The Street Dogs were wise enough to come on after the game ended, ensuring full attention from all. Now, the last (and only time) I saw the Street Dogs play was opening for The Pogues in Boston’s Orphium theater a few years back – big stage, empty seats cos most of punters were off buying booze somewhere else prior to The Pogues set (opening for The Pogues is tough). Tonight, TTs was the perfect place to see the Street Dogs – a small, sweaty rock club and the band was on fire and the audience lapping it up with moshing and circle pits galore. Mike McColgan was outstanding as a front man and easily broke down the wall of separation between band and audience as he brought friends and punters onto the stage and launched himself off the stage into the crowd.

It was great to hear lots of stuff off the early albums (especially since I haven’t heard the last 2 releases after their label stopped sending me their stuff to review……..bastards) – Jakes, Cutdown on the 12th, Savin Hill. Tonight, the Street Dogs were the best damn rock’n’punk band in the world.

Live

Shane MacGowan and The Popes – Wulfren Hall, Wolverhampton UK (March 18, 2004)

Leave a comment

Had been looking forward to this one for a while and was pleased to find out that it was in the Wulfren Hall and not it’s bigger and less intimate sibling that is the Civic Hall as I’d suspected. We arrived late on in the evening having stopped in a couple of local hostelries for a meal of Arthur Guinness’ liquid lunch rather than pay the exorbitant £2.80 a pint (that’s approx. $5). Because of this we missed the support NECK whom I’m not a huge fan of anyway. Unfortunately at all the other gigs on the tour except ours, support also came from THE FAMILY MAHONE, hosted by singer and drummer Mark Radcliffe; one of the UKs top Radio DJs. Check ‘em out if you like Pogues type drinking songs. Supremely good and funny as hell live.

So we missed the support and got pissed on cheap stout. Looked like a few people in the venue had done the same. Quite a few drunks and quite a few Glasgow Celtic t-shirts too. Average age was about 32 so at 35 I didn’t feel too old.

Well now… gigs in the UK seem to be starting earlier and earlier these days. Great for the kids… great for getting the last bus out of town. Not Mr. Tombstone Teeth himself though. He made us wait and I’d guess that there was a fair bit of teasing judging by the occasional band-just-walked-onstage cheers coming from the auditorium. We made the wise decision of hanging around in the bar until the first chords strike out at which point we find a comfortably empty corner.

First think I notice is how well Shane looks tonight. He appears to have lost some weight since I saw him last July. He’s not even drunk!!! In fact so sober is he that he stands throughout the set even though his chair is present. Last time I saw him at the Holidays in The Sun punk festival he remained seated throughout although he’d didn’t look like he’d be capable of staying in the chair so pissed was he.

The venue is all but sold out tonight so at a guess they’re playing to about 500 people. This hall has notoriously bad sound problems but these have the good grace to stay away tonight so all instruments and vocals sound crystal clear. Well, as clear as Shane is these days.

We get a heavy biased Pogues set tonight with only the Donegal Express and maybe three of four other tracks (none of which I recognise but guess that they are post The Snake Pope tracks.) An early showing of Dirty Old Town is dedicated to Kirsty and results in the usual arms aloft singalong. A fine moment as always.

There’s no way I can remember all the songs played since I was well on my way to being one over the gallon at the time. What I do remember is thinking how lacking in spirit it all sounded. Almost as if they were just going through the motions. I think this was in some part to do with the sound levels though it struck me towards the end just how much that tin whistle sound can raise a tune from good to great. Such a powerful instrument in the right hands. Don’t get me wrong… this wasn’t a bad gig. It just wasn’t a great gig. It had some great highlights, for me two of my favourite songs; “Sally Maclennan” and “Wild Cats of Kilchulan”. One thing I would have enjoyed would have been the spine tingling version of the “Auld Triangle” that he played at HITS. We also get “Pair of Brown Eyes”, “Broad Majestic Shannon”, “Turkish Song of The Damned”, a number of other Pogues greatest hits and the only really low point of the gig was a murdered version of another of my all time favourite songs. It was on the way back from a piss break that I heard a song “unknown” to me. It was only in the fade out chorus that I finally realised they were covering “Me And Bobby McGee”. Absolutely ghastly! His voice was so slurred that it was virtually incomprehensible.

So! What a night… it was a gig that had everything. The good, the bad and the downright fuckin’ ugly. Enjoyable as ever but not at his best.
Review by Mark (Rock ‘Em Dead Records)

Live

The Real McKenzies – Glasgow, Scotland (FEBRUARY 17, 2004)

Leave a comment

We got there to see the band still unloading the merch and various swag from the back of the usual old beat up, manky tour van. All resplendent in stinky lookin kilts as ever, they seemed oblivious to the Glasgow chill us lesser mortals felt.

Theres sumthin about Barfly that annoys me, but i still cant put my finger on it. Maybe its the fact that they completely pointlessly give you a paper wristband thing to put on, AND stamp your hand with a stupid ink thing too. Or maybe its that fact that some idiot has decided NOT to allow us adults to buy anything but soft drinks in the bar downstairs where the bands play. Hmm, i wonder eh? Anyway,,,we got a drink upstairs then headed down to see what was what.

On came the first support of the evening, Scottish band The Alpacinos. Saw them support the McKenzies last year,and didn’t like them at all. They were much better this time,,,better sound too,but i just don’t get it at all.It just not for me. Why sound SO American? Some embarrassing onstage comments didn’t help i must say. They were quite well received all the same, although we went back upstairs before they finished.

By the time we got back downstairs, The Cherrykicks were halfway through their last song. I saw them support the Wildhearts in E’Burgh a while back, and thought they were ok. I described them to a friend as “The WIldhearts” without the tunes. I got an ep of theirs too,,which confirmed that thought. They ended their set by throwing the guitars down in a rock n roll fashion,and wandered off. Seemed to go down pretty well too.

The place was really pretty packed by this time, and before too long the McKenzies appeared onstage one by one. It seemed to take ages for them to get everything on the go,,as the singer walked around with various mike stands and stuff for some reason.

Then they were off!

Straight from the start,,,,,all 5 of them lined up on the wee stage, side by side, kilts and sporrans a swinging the drummer at the back. If I’d been a sad journo type id have written down the set list, but I’, not. So bite me! Suffice to say,,,it was first class from start to finish. These boys work hard let me tell you. And DRINK HARD TOO! Some of it (well,,,a LOT of it) is very silly indeed, but great fun. Its particularly funny to an ACTUAL Scotsman who plays in a Celtic rock/punk band (that’s me by the way) watching a bunch of Canadians giving it all things homage to Scotland. I love it all the same!

Songs about whiskey,,,Nessie,,,er,,whiskey,,,,,The Queen(Bitch Of The Money),,,er,,,,whiskey again,,,,

and rather controversially

“This song is dedicated to our favorite Scottish football team,,THE GLASGOW CELTICS”! (aye,,not CELTIC as it should be,,,but CELTIC’S, like the basketball team.) I heard a few groans from non Celtic fans,,,but that just made it all the more enjoyable in fact!

They battered through the songs at a fair old pace, and did quite a bit of their latest (and best I think) CD,,,”OOT AND ABOOT”! they featured their new drummer (Ike Ikelson I think?) who looked remarkably out of place,,in his wee national health rimmed glasses and all. Looked like Vic Reeves (UK Comedian) in fact! Seemed to be a very good drummer indeed though,,and even had a wee solo spot for a coupla minutes, Jeeez,,,a drum solo at a punk gig eh? Whatever next!

Well,,that would be the bagpipe solo in fact! Yep,,,the big piper had a couple of solo spots,and really is a very good piper indeed. In fact,,singer Paul proclaimed him as “probably the finest punk rock piper in the world”! High praise indeed, since there are er,,so MANY OF THEM?

Both guitarist were very good too, but the taller skinny one pulls more faces than Michael Jackson in a primary school cloakroom,,,and is tremendous to watch. The bass player is still the one who we always think looks like a wee boy in amongst men for some reason. He is perfectly capable but just looks”wrong”somehow.

We heard a few tirades against the Queen “and her fuckin useless jug eared son” (hehee,,,that one made me laugh actually) as well as some family memories and talk of how proud they were to be”home”! (Canada?) We also had the dubious pleasure of seeing his arse and male goods on numerous occasions too. Or “some cack ‘n balls” as he would say.

We managed to pass on a copy of some of our bands (The Electrics- http://www.theelectrics.com ) new album tracks to singer Paul before the show,, as well as a belt with a “Scottish And Proud” buckle, and a half bottle of “Real McKenzie” whiskey too! No,,really! He was VERY pleased with these things,and insisted on giving my mate Sammy a t-shirt, which he tried to refuse but eventually accepted in return.

We also got a 3 or 4 song encore,,including another pipe solo. They were about to play on,,but were told they were over the curfew time and had to go off. So,,not a very in depth gig review,,,but I’m already looking forward to next time! “SCOTS WHA HAE”!


Review by Jim Devlin

Live

Dropkick Murphys, Good Riddance, The Casualties – The Crystal Ballroom, Portland OR (October 27, 2003)

Leave a comment

Today was a great day, The Dropkick Murphys were in town, and I was scheduled to interview Al, & Mark around 5:00 or so. I got there during soundchecks. I watched them reherse the song Forever, with some local fiddlers. Sounded good. Decided to do my part and slap Shite’n’Onions stickers on everything, and everybody. (Yeah, that was me, no big deal) I eventually interviewed Al, and Mark aka (The Kid) BTW, they were very cool, and very down to earth. (For those keeping score) A couple hours went by…

I missed the first band, but got there just in time for The Casualties. They remind me of The Exploited minus the accent. They sure seem to enjoy opening up for Celt-Punk bands, cause the last time I saw them, they opened for Flogging Molly. Next up, Good Riddance, I heard they were straight edge, so I went straight to the bar and ordered the drinks that they decided to pass up on, pretty good, but not what I came out to see, if you know what I mean…

It seemed like forever for the Dropkick Murphys to take stage. Random chants throughout the sold out crowd. “Let’s Go Murphys!!” My voice was shot before the band even played a note. My feet were numb from stomping the ballroom floor over and over. (I also knew that they were downstairs, so I stomped twice as hard.) Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Scruffy took the stage with his bagpipes in a headlock, and played Cadence To Arms. The hungry Portland crowd became so fucking loud that you could barely even hear the pipes! Out came the band. And the crowd got even louder. Damn! What a fine bunch we had tonight. I think the sound guys had to turn up the volume a bit, because the distortion was a bit high. Meanwhile the band continued to play various songs from their new album “Blackout” and a bunch from previous records. I was having too much fun to keep track of each and every song. I worked my way down to the front of the pit. Interesting crowd once again. There were no bouncers on stage, so quite often it would get a little crowded with stagedivers up there. Eventually, the Dropkicks roadie crew had to run out and push people off every so often. I have always laughed at the Crystal Ballroom’s “Security”, especially tonight. I swear they took the night off.

Any of you tall people know what I mean when it comes to crowd surfers, I think I broke a personal record tonight, as far as boot-to-face ratio went. I probably had a bloody nose, black eye, lump on head, whatever…I still wasn’t going anywhere. It had been a couple years since i’ve see the Dropkick Murphys. Then it happened… Someone stood on my heel, and off went my shoe… Shit. This has happened plenty of times before, and i’ve always gotten it back, but I guess tonight was my night. (The night you see your shoe fly across the stage!) I decided to stay put. Fuck it, I said. Then without warning, STOMP! Moments later, STOMP!! My foot probably looked like a crushed three day old calzone by now. I held my ground… STOMP! Okay, fuck it. I decided to retreat to the bar and watch from there, calzone foot and all. Eventually, the show was finished. The crowd screamed for more, but it was over. As I limped out the ballroom, I thought, ” Once again, a damn fine show, by the Dropkick Murphys.” I then wiped a little crusty dried blood off from under my nose and smiled. I can’t wait to do it all over again.

If anyone found a dirty brown right footed size 11 shoe (Vans) let me know, I’ll buy you a beer!
Review by Brian “Gimpy Foot” Gillespie

Live

The Woods Band and the Mahones, w/ guests Siobhan and The Peelers – Several Canadian Dates (October 2003)

Leave a comment

by Ol’ jimmy from Siobhan

I’d like to begin this review with a small message for our American readers. And that message is this:

Ha, ha.

Oh, look at us. We’re the United States. We’re big and powerful. We have most of the money in the world. We grab all the headlines. Our military could conquer Canada 50 times in a week and still have enough time for a relaxing weekend in Bermuda. We have the Dropkicks. We have The Tossers. We have Flogging Molly. We’re the centre of the universe!

Well, let’s just be clear here: Terry Woods and Phil Chevron just did a tour in CANADA. And it rocked both folk and punk ASS.

I mean, The Mahones were awesome, they always are. The Peelers kicked ass. The only real let-down was Siobhan, who played some of the worst music I had ever heard. I mean, I don’t want to be cruel here, but these guys were worse than Creed. They make Creed sound like the Mahones. But anyway, let me get down to the nitty-gritty, the real stuff. The Pogues.

On each night, Terry, Phil and their bad-ass Irish accordion player, James, followed up the Mahones’ set with an acoustic set of their own. This set included some tunes I’d never heard, such as beautiful instrumental “The Lament for Grosse Point” and “Brave New World”, a rousing folk number. And each night, they turned the house lights down, and Phil sang Thousands Are Sailing in an “Unplugged” style.

This was the song that first roused my interest in the Pogues, the song that started me on that long, dark, and drunken road to having a band. And to hear Phil himself sing it was beyond incredible. Shane was great on the album, but seeing this old, frail man sing his own song (on North American soil, even!) gives the tune a whole new power. He also did another song of his, “Faithful Departed”, a Radiators From Space tune that has become an underground classic in Irish music.

The Mahones jumped on stage again as the backing band, and out came “If I Should Fall From Grace With God”, “Young Ned Of The Hill” and “Gartloney Rats”, among others. Those of us in the room who understood what was going on were mesmerized, while those who had never heard the Pogues were amazed to hear Irish music being played so well, better then any band in Canada or the U.S. does. Terry’s fingers absolutely flew on the bouzouki, and his concertina work was masterful. Occasionally, when the sound was bad, I would turn to a band-mate and say, “I wonder if the sound guy realizes he’s fucking up the bouzouki sound for one of the five best players in the world.”

In the end, the shows were magical, and we all have Finny MacConnell from the Mahones to thank for organizing them. The last time Terry and Phil were on this continent, they were playing to five or six thousand people a night, and here they were, in dark underground clubs and halls, playing their hearts out to anyone who would listen. They weren’t trying to get famous, they were trying to show people what Irish music could and should be.

I’ll never forget seeing these guys, and getting to play banjo with them on “Gartloney Rats” is something I’ll take to my grave. But the experience was also humbling for all of us who play this music: there are still giants across the broad Atlantic who play far better than we do. Leave it to the Pogues to put a bunch of Canadians in their place. Health to you, boys, and don’t stay away too long.

Review by:
-Ol’ Jimmy (whose efforts to get Phil to say “Oooh Terrence! You farted!” in a high pitched, squeaky voice were sadly in vain)

Potato-eating, Whiskey-drinking, Bog-trotting, CELTIC PUNK ROCK