Audience had to listen to sub-par music until main act
Words of wisdom: a floor littered with empty cups and forgotten liquor makes for a slippery situation.
Hundreds of people engulfed the main floor of the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver Wednesday evening waiting for the Dropkick Murphys. Unfortunately for Murphys fans, they would have to endure the mediocre tunes of three opening bands.
The show opened with semi-hardcore punks, the Deadly Sins, lead by front-women Stephanie Dougherty. Dougherty appeared on Dropkick Murphys album “Blackout” on the track “The Dirty Glass.”
Dougherty has a magnificent voice; however, this failed her and the Deadly Sins. Hardcore punk is not about sounding pretty.
While her fellow band mates were pulling out rapid hardcore digs and shattering the ear drums of the audience, Dougherty was belting out a beautiful melodic stream reminiscent of former Save Ferris vocalist Monique Powell, more appropriately found in ska punk.
The Deadly Sins were followed by a special treat for the audience. Hardcore punks from New York, Sick of it All, had dropped of the tour.
It was Los Angeles punks, The Briggs, that came to the rescue. The Briggs put on a fantastic set. Built on the foundations of Oi! with street punk themes, The Briggs offered gritty guitar riffs and clean consistent sound to form their own brand of working class punk rock.
Where the Briggs began to work the crowd up, the next band, self-styled aggro punks, The Aggrolites, failed to keep the momentum.
The Aggrolites are neither aggro nor punk and had no place at a hardcore punk show. Though they may have played some funky reggae beats, and they commanded some respect for covering reggae legends Toots and the Maytals, they didn’t seem to be able to formulate any of their own lyrics. Their sound was simplistic and pretentious without a right to be. They had no business opening for the Dropkick Murphys.
Murphys Army, the massive legions of Dropkick Murphys fans, was out in force Wednesday night. Kilts, chains, skintight pants in camo and plaid, spikes, Mohawks and caps were all adorned with pride. Crowd members were restless as they waited for the appearance of the Dropkick Murphys on the stage. A chant of “LET”S GO MURPHYS,” had begun.
The Murphys burst on to their set with the traditional opener “For Boston,” to tumultuous applause and the instant mobilization of the circle pit that engulfed nearly half of the Fillmore’s massive floor in all of it’s blue-chandeliered glory.
The Murphys continued this rapid pace for nearly two hours, laying down crowd favorites such as “Black Velvet Band,” “Road of the Righteous,” “The Outcast” and “Rocky Road to Dublin.”
Though the Murphys uniquely employ the bagpipe sounds of Scruffy Wallace and are all Boston-born Irish boys, they are less of a Celtic punk band than their contemporaries Flogging Molly or the Real McKenzies. They embody more the Boston hardcore scene, which is uniquely different from the traditional Celtic punk scene.
The Murphys wrapped up their set with the turbulent “Spicy McHaggis Jig,” during which female members of the audience were invited to the stage to dance for the crowd.
Concluding with the bawdy ballad “Kiss Me I’m Shitfaced,” which every fan in the Fillmore chanted along with, the Dropkick Murphys left the stage still champions of Bostonian punk rock.
Contact Campus Press staff writer Brandon Springer at Brandon.springer@thecampuspress.com.
