Since their 2005 release of “Shipping Up To Boston,” the Dropkick Murphys have exploded in popularity while still maintaining their punk-Irish roots and distinctive style. Their back-to-back near sold out Chicago shows at the Congress Theatre brought in both the Irish and the punk fan, creating an amazing show with a comradely atmosphere. To emphasize how big the Dropkick Murphys have gotten, their godfather precursor, The Pogues, have announced their final US tour in Chicago because “the cost of touring as an eight-piece has become very expensive, which has pushed up the cost of tickets for their shows,” ($40 in Chicago,) according to a Rolling Stone interview with Stacy, while seven-piece Dropkick Murphys easily play with five-piece string band Parkington Sisters while having raised $500,000 for the Claddagh Fund over the years.
Nevertheless, their popularity has by no means detracted from the quality of their live performances and no amount of adjectives could articulate how amazing they are live. Despite how much we like to complain about the poor acoustics of the Congress Theatre, their live performances and live albums, in some cases, trump the studio recordings.
The opening band, Off With Their Heads, finally acknowledged that they have been playing the same set for the last few shows in Chicago, but still did it again anyway. Chicago band Naked Raygun put on a crowd-pleaser, despite it being hard to comprehend a significant amount of lyrics due to the notorious feedback (last poor-mixing comment, I promise) on part of the venue.
Against Me!, on the other hand, packed the Congress Sunday night and brought the energy playing an extensive set opening with the classic, “Pints of Guinness Make You Strong,” and playing the newer, “White Crosses,” and a variety in between. Even with having their equipment misrouted, the entire band having been put on a last minute standby flight, being stuck in traffic and arriving a few minutes into Off With Their Head’s set-all on an hour of sleep-they still brought it.
Drummer Jay Weinberg, the drummer for Bruce Springsteen’s the E Street Band and the son of the drummer for Conan O’Brien, tore up the set, setting a great rhythm with guitarist front-man Tom Gabel. Weinberg will be touring with Against Me! for the remainder of their tour and throughout 2011.
Against Me! will be touring with the Dropkick Murphys for the rest of the U.S. tour, most of which is now sold out. “We’re really excited, Against Me! are good friends with us, we did the European Tour with them, and we’re always excited to be on tour with them,” said Dropkick Murphys guitarist Tim Brennan.
When asked about playing in Chicago vs. Boston, Brennan mentioned that, “there’s definitely a different feeling with the Boston shows, knowing your friends and family are there, pretty exciting that first night,” but also that the “crowds make it feel like Boston” anywhere they go.
The sets for both days were incredibly varied, while still making room for 10 of the 13 songs off of their just released, “Going Out In Style.”
Putting on a show incorporating the Parkington Sisters gave it that extra kick, much like the momentum of the three backdrops, having the notorious Blackhawks “jigmaster” Chris Pisani dance to “I’m Shipping Up To Boston” Sunday, and having the encore for the ladies, as Ken Casey brought all the ladies on stage and sung the encore, “Kiss Me, I’m sh*tfaced,” a true charmer.
The shows were characterized with a stormy entrance, and a great variety of both characteristically Celtic-punk songs, along with many earlier traditional punk songs that appealed to all sides of the audience.
It is really hard to go wrong with seeing the Dropkick Murphys live, and Chicago was no exception. If you have not already heard the new album, take a listen. I also highly recommend seeing them when they roll through Chicago in the future.