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I wasn't expecting Warped Tour like traffic for my first ever show show at a baseball stadium, but cars were lined up like cattle in a slaughterhouse as we got close to McCoy Stadium. Parking lots were all full, causing the scamps charging $15-$20 for parking to pucker their lips in greed. We eventually found a spot on a side road for free, giving the line, which looked like a well dressed death march when we first drove by it, time to die down. We didn't wait very long before getting in and heading right to the bathroom.
The Guiness line was probably longer than the line to get in. Having given up drinking for at least the time being, I went to the stands to watch Civit, an all female punk band. They reminded me a lot of Rancid, though they weren't as snotty as I thought they would be. They actually seemed pretty polite. They had some really good songs and talked a bit about their CD coming out in September.
I forgot how old and granfatherish the plaid that the Mighty Mighty Boostones wear actually is. Grunge plaid was a much better fashion, but the style works for the ska that they play. We somehow got to go up on stage, which was very cool watching the crowd go absolutely nuts, including a kid I think I went to high school with singing along to every word (and tromboning along as well). I could also see the crowdsurfing girls getting nearly molested, including one girl who nearly got her shirt pulled down.
The people watching was as fun as the music spewing out from every angle, and the stage had some fun watching as well. There were two girls hellbent on sleeping with someone dancing their hearts, and almost their boobs, out. A few kids were onstage, including a dad constantly taking pictures of his kid smiling with the unknowing band in the background. Dicky Barret's mom was celebrating her birthday at the show. Barret had the crowd sing her a rousing round of "Happy Birthday" which was actually a pretty sweet moment. The music was pretty good as well. They played for well over an hour and covered Bob Marley and The Specials.The Specials song may have been "Rudy Can't Fail" by The Clash. I had that song stuck in my head on the walk back to the car, and nobody remembered which song it was, but it was a song about Rudy. They also played every song that you would expect them to play, and they played them well. I had fun wacthing drummer Joe Sirois, who kind of looks like one of those cymbal crashing monkeys, which made watching them even better.
The funniest part of their set came at the very end. They had a Bosstones banner that was supposed drop, revealing a Barack Obama banner. Only about half the banner dropped, which left the stage crew in a tizzy and everyone else chuckling politely. S tried helping them out after, but to no avail.
Dropkick Murphys took the stage to some WWE styled fireworks that had me yearning for a battle royal. They went on to play the best set I have ever seen them play. The energy level was outstanding, the crowd was rambunctous and everyone was having a great time. There was a film crew so people in the stands could watch them from the video screen, which wasn't bad (I watched while retreating the stage for a french fried snack).
They had line dancers (a troupe of younger girls from Boston that compete and perform all over the country) join them for a couple of songs, which added nice nice visuals. They also had the girls join them onstage for "Kiss Me, I'm Shitfaced,"; a song that I think is kind of on the dumb side. Guys and girls joined them on stage for "Skinhead on the MBTA," which pissed off one of their guitarists (you'd thin he would be used to that by now). The highlight of their set came from drummer Matt Kelly. The guy is phenomonal behind the kit, barely missing a beat and playing super tight fills at breakneck speed. He was an absolute blast to watch. A close second in the highlight realm came from some little kid on stage dancing with his mom all night. He was laughing it up and pushing her face around, gathering the attention of everybody. A close third highlight came when they left stage for their encore. One kid was yelling that McCoy wasn't ready for them to stop, even though he could have easily looked at the set list and seen that they still had three songs left. Said set list (or the songs off it) is listed below.
Famous for Nothing
State of Massachusetts
Johnny Come Marching Home
Curse of a Fallen Soul
Flannigan's Ball
Bastards on Parade
Fields of Athenry
Industry
Caught in a Jar
Loyal to No One
Your Spirit's Alive
The Warrior's Code
Darcys
Surrender
God Willing
Boys on the Docks
Tessie
Barroom Hero
Sunshine Highway
CIA
Forever
Worker's Song
Captain Kelly's Kitchen
Kiss Me
Shipping Up to Boston
Skinhead on the MBTA
Dirty Water