The Dropkick Murphys are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. To celebrate, they are taking some old friends on the road with them. Once label mates Tiger Army and rad Boston Ska/Punk band that I didn’t even know where still around, Darkbuster. (The banner that hung behind them reading “The New Darkbuster” was a bit of an indicator of why I may have thought that.) This was absolutely a tour I could have seen in high school and the part of me that was excited by that was also relieved it was on a Friday because there is no way my parents would have let me drive into the city for a concert on a school night.
One thing I enjoy about my position as a photographer is being able to check in on my once favorite bands that are still around and see what they’ve got. It leads to some fairly interesting experiences. I was intrigued to see the kind of crowd that Darkbuster, Tiger Army, & Dropkick Murphys could draw in 2016. I’m not the least bit surprised to see how much crossover there was. In turns out one of the differences between me seeing a lineup like this in 2016 and if I had in 2002 is that it turns out it takes a lot more for me to be impressed by a show than simply seeing a band I was into 14 years ago. There was certainly a different kind of crowd that night than who would have come out then. For as many fans that were legitimately excited to see these bands, there were a handful who really flipped out for “Shipping Up to Boston” and the 6 or 7 $8 beers that preceded it. It turns out I’m old now, but a different kind than a lot of the sing alongers.
Darkbuster have been around nearly as long as Dropkick and I was quite fond of them in high school. Anything with the words ‘Boston’ ‘Ska’ ‘Punk’ suited me just fine. Sometimes you don’t realize how much your opinion on a band can change until you are confronted with it 14 years later. The crowd was really digging them and I had a blast hearing old favorites. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this new album brings them the best. Tiger Army ably demonstrated that you can be perfectly capable of captivating a crowd without playing their city since 2008 or releasing material since 2007. With their Rise Records debut due this spring, I was glad to hear some new material. It definitely fit right in with the songs that were hits 8 years ago. While I could have done with a few more of the heavier songs from their repertoire, it was a ton of fun to finally catch Tiger Army after missing them at Warped Tour so many years ago.
I have caught the Dropkick Murphys a lot over the years and one of the best things is that even after so many times, they still manage to vary up their set lists enough that I have never seen the same show twice. I never thought I’d see them play ‘Good Rats’, but there it was putting a big smile on my face. They also changed things up a bit by coming into the crowd and doing acoustic renditions of old favorites so the folks could sing along. Following this, the band announced they were cutting a song because someone in the crowd professed to know and be able to perform ‘The Dirty Glass’. She killed it and was a lot of fun to see.
Anyone in the mood for taking a dip in the nostalgia pool should check out this tour. All of these bands still play on point and are excited to still be getting people riled up with their music after all these years. Particularly Dropkick Murphys. Twenty years is an impressive amount of time for a band to be together and it’s nice to see one I admired so greatly doing as well as they have. I don’t think it’s any secret that their rabid fanbase will gladly support Dropkick for as long as their willing to stick it out. As long as they do, I’ll happily keep my on what they’re up to.
