For the first time ever Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys went on tour together in the United States and it was the perfect marriage of Guinness, crowd-surfers.
The show at Forest Hills Stadium opened with an acoustic performance by Jake Burns from Stiff Little Fingers. It was a great start to what would be an amazing night.
Flogging Molly came on stage with Dave King holding a Guinness up high. He strapped on his guitar, took a sip and the band exploded into their first song ‘(No More) Paddy’s Lament’. The crowd burst with energy and the party officially started. After another sip of Guinness, they continued with ‘The Hand of John L. Sullivan’ and ‘Drunken Lullabies’. Dave pointed out that the Dennis Casey was from Long Island NY and joked around also pointing out a man who was wearing a full green and shamrock suit. The entire stadium danced, screamed and drank through the entire seventy-seven-minute set and Flogging Molly stayed full of energy not missing a beat. They played other hits like ‘Requiem for a Dying Song’, ‘Devils Dance Floor’, ‘Whats Left of the Flag’ and ‘Seven Deadly Sins” along with songs off their new album Life Is Good (‘The Days We’ve Yet To Meet’, ‘Crushed (Hostile Nations)’ and others) and to finish it all off ‘Salty Dog’.
The crowd waited patiently as they stared at the stage waiting for Dropkick Murphys to come on and when that curtain dropped the entire stadium shook. They started off their set with ‘Captain Kelly’s Kitchen’, ‘The Boys Are Back’, and ‘Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya’; where Al Barr and Ken Casey spent most of their performance in the crowd. They continued with mostly new songs from their album 11 Short Stories of Pain and Glory (‘Blood’, ‘Rebels with a Cause’, ‘Sandlot’ and ‘Paying my Way’) while still playing classics like ‘Caught in a Jar’ and ‘The Rocky Road to Dublin’. There was a brief moment where they called a long time friend on stage so he could propose to his girlfriend (she said yes!) but then it was all back to business. They closed their set with ‘Going Out in Style’ only to come back on with a five-song Encore where they covered ‘The Body of an American’ by The Pogues, and sang ‘I’m Shipping up to Boston’ and ‘Kiss Me I’m Shitfaced’ before pulling fans on stage for their final two songs ‘Skinhead on the MBTA’ and an amazing cover of ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’ by AC/DC.
Everyone left the Forest Hills Stadium filled with energy, singing along to songs while hugging one another and filled the bars with laughter and stories of an absolutely amazing show.
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY HEATHER WILKERSON