The Dropkick Murphys played their second night in Vicar Street last night, and what a show; Michael Cogley of The Daily Shift has more…
Before we were treated to the exuberant Celts, two supporting acts got us in the mood; Ireland’s own Blood and Whiskey and Englishman Frank Turner.
Blood and Whiskey are TDM’s but years before; an incredibly similar sound with an equally enthusiastic performance they did more than their bit to rile the slowly building crowd.
Frank Turner, the supporting act who had his name on the bill, was much more than expected. Just the Brit, his guitar and one incredible voice, his own. What really set Turner apart was his scathing voice, which is very rarely associated with his acoustic branding; think if Dave Grohl just played acoustically.
‘Photosynthesis’ really got the crowd going and the easy listening really pulled some merriment through the crowd. Plenty of interaction made him a very memorable act; in fact there would be no complaint to see him headline, terrific display.
After 20 minutes of set-up across a blacked out stage, ‘The Foggy Due’ began to play building louder and louder with a bass drum adding to the tension. Truly an epic song to keep the audience anticipation at its highest. Finally The Dropkick Murphys graced us with their presence, answering the calls of a bubbling crowd screaming, “Let’s go Murphys” a chant that has followed them wherever they go.
The band opened with ‘The Boys are Back’ (different track entirely to the anthem that the late Phil Lynott delivered). Nonetheless the original enthusiasm that was born with the band was far from faded and soon they had the crowd screaming back to every song.
One thing that is near unique to them is the fact that they can’t stick to one instrument for more than two songs. Each guitarist had a set with them, the bagpipes entered and exited so too, the mandolin and banjo and even the accordion; such a range is more than impressive when witnessed live.
Their new single ‘Rose Tattoo’ from Signed and Sealed In Blood was a real stand out of the night. A slower more acoustic direction for the band but achieved very effectively with Al Barr lending his trenchant voice to an intimate song.
As a live act they have more than enough enthusiasm to keep the crowd going with them even reaching into the crowd at one point to get a member to get up and sing with them and luckily enough she was good. ‘Citizen C.I.A’ and ‘Shipping up to Boston’ got a rousing response from an incredibly pumped up crowd, thus closing the show in style. Yet choruses of “Let’s Go Murphys” got the more than obliging group back on stage for an encore.
All in all a great gig. Frank Turner was the perfect act to precede them and they had no problem showing their live prowess to get the crowd up after an acoustic set.
