Dropkick Murphys Live in Los Angeles

(March 17th, 2004) St. Patty's Eve and all the hooligan tribes make their way to LA's Wiltern theater for a pre-holiday bash. Ducky Boys re-unite to bring their brand of Boston street rawk to the Angeleno punk masses. Kicking and edgy, the way its supposed to be.

Next up, Blood for Blooded tear it up hardcore style, mixing Boston style "Slapshot" angst with "Sick of it All" NYC hardcore crunch. Over the top mayhem with just enough streetpunk undertones to keep ya wanting more. Tons of energy and just some good old fashion fun.

Next up, Boston's own prodigal son's, The Dropkick Murphy's rang in St. Patty's Day a little early with their eclectic set of Punk, Irish Folk, Oi!, Oldschool Hardcore and a few classic Rock boss-tunage to get this party started. I've had the opportunity to watch this band progress over the years from a loosely controlled streetpunk freight train to this powerhouse monster rock unit. They never let ya down and they always manage to throw something in the mix to make you just go "F*ck Yeah!!!!". All the old standards were belted out as well as some of the new radio heavy songs from their latest release "Blackout" (Walk Away, The Dirty Glass). Adorning the stage were plenty of mandolin, accordion and bagpipe accompaniants as well as some spectacular female vocalizing and Boston Bruin Worship.

The whole show felt like a big party (despite the $7 and $8 beer prices) and was just a fun trip down the old punk highway to inebriation. The selling point in my opinion was the fantastic version of the Who's masterpiece "Baba O'Riley (teenage wasteland)". An ass kicking great time with half the place ending up onstage by the shows finale.

Is there any stopping the DKM's? I think not. Catch them while you can. I'm thinking these guys will be on the arena circut within the next few years.

Larry "You owe me a beer" Lugz