Last night, Dropkick Murphys made their way to the Roseland Ballroom in New York to play in front of a packed house of 3,500+. The band showcased a set featuring mostly songs from their upcoming album The Meanest of Times and 2005’s The Warrior’s Code.
Among higlights was “The State of Massachusetts”, the first single of The Meanest of Times, which exemplified what the Murphys do best – high energy, Irish influenced, punk rock. Other highlights included “The Field of Athenry”, “Johnny, I Hardly New Ya”, and “Flannigan’s Ball”. The band ended their show in trademark fashion with “Skinhead on the MTBA” and a cover of “Alcohol” and were of course accompanied by fans on stage.
One personal disappointment, however, was the crowd. Composed mostly of teenangers, who seemed to get most excited when the opening chords of “Shipping out to Boston” began playing, appeared rather uneducated with the rest of the band’s history. No one in the crowd was overly excited, nor probably realized that former Murphy’s guitarist Rick Barton opened the night with his new band Everybody Out! Nor, was the sing-a-long chorus of “Boys on the Dock” as loud as it has been in past years.
Nevertheless, Dropkick doesn’t at all seemed phased by this. In fact, they appear excited over their increasing popularity and perhaps have embraced it – possibly seen in the fact that they didn’t play many old songs. Regardless, the Dropkick Murphys still put on an energetic, fun show – and still are one of the masters of live shows.
