Dropkick Murphys
With Tiger Army
20th Anniversary Tour – March 6th, 2016
Bogarts – Cincinnati, OH
College taught me many things, but none more important than the fact that any St. Patty’s day party worth sneezing at ends the night with the song “Kiss Me, I’m S***faced” by Dropkick Murphys. It’s one of the most ridiculously fun Irish songs around, and it became a staple among my college friends. In fact, one of those friends (Bryan) insists on wearing an obnoxious green shirt with that song title featured prominently across the front whenever he gets the chance. As much as I hate that stupid shirt, I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Dropkick Murphys, partially because of fond memories of those college years. For years I’d been looking for the chance to see them live, and for some reason it had never worked out.
Fast forward nearly fifteen years – Dropkick Murphys schedules a 20th anniversary show at one of my favorite venues in Cincinnati (Bogarts). There was just no way that I could turn this show down, even though it was on a Sunday night.
I hit the road and headed down I-74 towards Cincinnati, with quick stop off to pick up my buddy Bryan. I’ll give you two guesses what shirt he was wearing when I walked in.
Opener: Tiger Army
I walked into Tiger Army with literally no expectations whatsoever, and I walked away pretty impressed. I really thought they had a solid sound, and a unique one at that, as they are a three piece with a stand-up bass. Wikipedia calls their genre “Psychobilly” – and while I happen to think that term is ridiculous, I enjoyed what I heard, which was a fusion of rock and punk and little bit of blues, all driven by that incredibly thick and robust bass line. Their vocals were really solid, drumming was tight, and watching the bassist stand on, lay under, spin around, and generally just dominate his stand up bass was incredibly entertaining. I recognized some of their songs, including their opening song, the instrumental track Prelude: Signal Return and their closer, which was Never Die. Overall a great opening show – fit the dynamic and style of a Dropkick Murphys crowd perfectly, and really enjoyed it.
Headliner: Dropkick Murphys
Because this was the 20th anniversary tour, the show opened up with a nearly 10 minute video montage that showed what a cultural icon that Dropkick Murphys has become. It showed them performing in front of famous landmarks, at Foxborough and Fenway, on Conan and Letterman, with Bruce Springsteen, and basically everywhere else you could think of. It was really cool to see their 20 year career unfold in the video – I had absolutely no idea how big of a deal this band was. My favorite part of the video was the footage of them performing shows in Boston on St. Patrick’s day. Oh man, were those shows crazy – definitely a bucket list item for me. As the movie finished, the screen went translucent, the crowd chanted “LETS GO DROPKICK. LETS GO DROPKICK”, and Ken Casey’s silhouette was back-lit as he sang the opener to Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya. Amazing opening sequence.
When the song picked up and the screen came down to reveal the band behind it, I was taken aback by the energy on the stage. Because they feature so many instruments, Dropkick can really deliver an incredible level of energy. With that many people on stage, there’s constant movement and always someone jumping around or going crazy, which keeps it visually interesting. Having that many instruments on stage also means that the songs have a level of depth and variety that is really unique, at least compared to most of the music that I listen to. All in all, they played for over 2 hours, and I counted thirteen unique instruments that were played on stage at one point during the show*. In addition to that, I counted at least 11 microphones on stage for vocals, and often times four, five, or even six of the band members were singing at the same time. That rich of a musical experience is tough to duplicate with the traditional four-piece.
(*Instruments I saw: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Drums, Banjo, Mandolin, Accordion, Tin Whistle, Bouzouki, Bag Pipes, Keyboard, Harmonica, Piano)
The other thing that stood out right away was Ken Casey, who plays bass and sings a good portion of the vocals. He was an original founder of the band, and you could really tell that he is also Dropkick’s heart and soul. His voice is so unique, and goes a long way in giving the band their authentic Irish sound, but he is also exceptional in the way that he engaged the crowd. He talked to us throughout the whole show, giving details about the bands history and the meaning of the songs, as well as just laughing and screaming and having a blast. At this particular show, he was a bit more prominent as a front man, as he was fighting a wrist injury, and had a guitar tech fill in for him on bass for a good portion of the show. (The tech was really good, btw). Throughout the whole show, my eyes always gravitated towards Casey. With as much as we were given to look at up there on stage, that’s a real testament to how well he pulls in the audience.
Their set list was all over the map, featuring many of their timeless classics but also hitting some of the newest material. Out of the gate, the aforementioned Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya, and Out of our Heads started the show really strong. In addition, Walk Away, which was one of the most guitar-driven tracks they played, and Rose Tattoo rounded out a really strong opening set.
I also loved the song Sunshine Highway, which they played fourth or fifth. Before the song started, Casey explained that the song was written about a road in Boston that leads to a famous alcohol rehab facility. The road is littered with empty beer bottles, because the people seeking treatment all wanted one last beer before they tried to kick the habit. The Boston sun shining off of the beer bottles makes the road shine like no other, and thus the road got the nickname Sunshine Highway. Insights like this one made the show so interesting.
After they had opened the show and flexed their musical instrument muscles a bit, they went acoustic on us, stripping out the electronics and the rhythm section to leave us with three acoustic guitars and a banjo. They played three or four songs in this arrangement, the highlight of which was a brand new song (off of their yet-to-be-released record) called The Sandlot, which I really encourage you to check out (video here). Towards the end of the acoustic set, they started to layer in the other instruments, starting with the accordion, and then the drums.
As they picked up the energy, they launched into The Boys are Back, which landed really well with the crowd and had the place moving. Before too long, they finally got to the song “Shipping Up to Boston”, which completely blew the roof off the place. I had really high hopes for that song, and they exceeded them in every way imaginable. As the banjo played the famous intro (which was featured in the movie The Departed), the crowd noise was excruciating. As if we weren’t already enjoying ourselves enough, when we got to the heart of the song, random characters started coming on stage to join in on the fun. First, your standard Irish Leprechaun came up on stage. Then, a dude in a white and rainbow colored unicorn suit joined. Next, three men dressed as Irish bar maids were square dancing across stage. Not to be outdone, eventually the pope himself ran on stage, swinging his staff above his head and singing at the top of his lungs. It was awesome and chaotic and crazy and so much fun – a fantastic “I have no idea whats going on but I love it” moment that I will remember for a long time.
When that song ended, the band left the stage and we had arrived at the encore. The prominent section of the encore were the songs Kiss Me I’m S***faced and a cover of Sam Cooke’s Having a Party. At this point in the show, the wheels started coming off in the most glorious way – the stage crew started pulling people from the front row on stage until the stage was completely packed. The show had basically transitioned into a big party, a phenomenon that I later learned they do at every show, and even have a name for it (“Stage Invasion”). I absolutely love how they finished off this show – it’s not that the last few songs didn’t sound good, it’s just that that was no longer the point. Ending the show with a 60’s cover song called Having a Party was a bold statement that Dropkick Murphys doesn’t take themselves too seriously, and that they are determined to make sure that every single person has an absolute blast when they come to a show.
If you can’t tell, I was thoroughly impressed, and am so glad I got a chance to catch this show. As part of their 20th anniversary, it really felt like a once-in-a-lifetime show. However, somehow I have the sneaking suspicion that they make every show feel like a once-in-a-lifetime show, and ultimately, what better praise can a band get than that?
Thanks so much to Dropkick Murphys, Tiger Army, and Bogarts for such a great show. I loved it. Cheers!!