Dropkick Murphys lead Irish punk rock invasion
By: Chris Steffen - U-WIRE
October 20th 2003 9:10pm
Virtually all punk bands earn their notoriety not through album sales and publicity, but rather through relentless touring and accessibility to their fans. This mentality is embodied by Boston's Dropkick Murphys, who will play the Diamond Ballroom Monday night.
The band fuses a hard punk sound with Irish and Celtic elements to create a style that easily separates the band from their backward-hat-wearing counterparts.
The Dropkick Murphys' fan base is a rabid one, as the fans show a level of dedication and solidarity that is seemingly unmatched anywhere else in the modern punk scene. At any of the band's performances at the annual Warped Tour, fans brandished large, homemade banners to support their punk heroes.
The themes in the Murphys' music largely focus on the struggles of the working man, as well as something near and dear to every Irishman's heart, the bottle, emphasized in chant-along songs such as "Barroom Hero" and "Kiss Me, I'm f---faced."
Although the band has undergone numerous lineup changes, founding member Ken Casey doesn't acknowledge any changes in the band's sound, nor does he anticipate them.
"We just go out and do the same thing over and over again, and it keeps working," Casey said in a phone interview. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
The Irish themes and sounds are always at the forefront of the band's music, which might seem to narrow the potential audience. However, Casey sees it as an attractive element, rather than an exclusive one.
"Everywhere we go, people seem to kinda latch on to what we're doing. I don't know what their reasons for that are," he said with a laugh. "I'm never really sure if they're into where we are and what we're about or if they just like the songs. It's probably a little of both. I think sometimes people like that we're so passionate about what we're doing and where we're from that they kinda latch onto that, even though they can't relate to them."
The band's draw is wide reaching, which is evident in the range of shows it has played.
"We've played at family-style Irish folk festivals where people sit on blankets, and we've played with the Sex Pistols, and we've played with the most brutal hardcore bands," Casey said. "Are we confined? I think we're less confined than most bands."
Although the specificity of the themes and general mentality of the band makes it easy to describe, Casey doesn't find any limitations with the style. A listen to the band's latest release, June's "Blackout," seems to agree, as it combines numerous styles into a diverse, yet palatable record.
"Look at all the different styles we get to do. We get to do acoustic ballads, Celtic punk songs, regular punk songs, hardcore punk songs," Casey said. "I don't really see why there would be a reason to change, because we're getting to do more on one record than most bands get to do in their whole career, style-wise."
The band's Boston love and dedication has caused them a bit of trouble on their current tour, as they often put their beloved Red Sox ahead of certain tasks, such as performing.
"We [wouldn't] go on until the game's over," Casey said. "In Orlando the other night, we pushed the show back an hour and 15 minutes. The club owner was pissed, and he said 'If they're such big baseball fans, maybe they shouldn't tour at this time of year during the playoffs.' Obviously, since the Red Sox don't make the playoffs all that often, that's not a reality. So I had a little TV rigged up on stage right near my microphone."
Casey recalls that the last time the Dropkick Murphys performed in Oklahoma City was in 1999.
"It's been so long since we've been back there, and the shows that we've done there have always been great, so it'll be another great one, I hope," Casey said. "Get the hell out there. What else you got to do in Oklahoma City?"
 (C) 2002 Oklahoma Daily via U-WIRE
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