Dropkick Murphys play hometown. Interview from the Boston Globe.
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone. Last night began the run of six sold out Boston shows for Dropkick Murphys. They have some great support bands lined up including Blood or Whiskey, H2O, The Bones, Jerry's Kids, The Skells, Bluebloods, Far from Finished, The Unseen, Confront, Anti-Heros, Brain Failure, and The Casualties! The band played a breakfast show this morning at The Black Rose to celebrate the day. Check out this interview with Ken Casey from The Boston Globe and be sure to celebrate yourselves today!
Irish eyes will be smiling on Dropkick Murphys
Band kicks into high gear around St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow, which means the Dropkick Murphys are going to be busy. Extremely busy. The Murphys have become fixtures at the 2,000 plus-capacity Avalon this time of year -- and they're breaking their own record with six sold-out shows in five days starting tonight. They'll crank up the speed-punk guitars and rock-driven bagpipes, making for a celebration like no other.
The Murphys' latest album, ''Singles Collection Volume 2 -- 1998-2004," a compilation of B-sides and covers, will be followed by an album of original tunes, ''The Warrior's Code," due in June. Murphys bassist/singer/spokesman Ken Casey, on the phone from England, where the band recently toured, brought us up to date:
How do you top yourselves at Avalon? You've had such a great run these last few years during the week of St. Patrick's Day.
Ken Casey: It was just one show the first year and it keeps growing by one [show] every year. I don't know if I can handle any more now. It starts to feel like ''Groundhog Day." . . . The hardest part is trying to write six different set lists to make each show different and unique. Sometimes I wonder if we should bother, but we've researched it and there's probably 50 kids who come to multiple shows. Now, 50 out of 2,000 isn't that big a deal, but those are the kids you see right in front. And we all get self-conscious if we're playing the same set every night, so we try to change it for the diehards.
It's a nice dilemma to have, isn't it?
Ken Casey: It's a great dilemma, for sure. . . . And in terms of the staging, we definitely have more bells and whistles than normal this time. We have the Boston Police and Fire Department pipe and drums [corps] coming down, along with some Irish step dancers. And we've had some special recorded video messages from some [Red Sox] friends down in Florida who are getting ready to come up and start the season again. That should get the crowd fired up a little.
Will you again be doing your version of the Red Sox good-luck song, ''Tessie"?
Ken Casey: I would say yes, that is something unavoidable for us at this point. You never know what will become of that song in the future, but I think with the Sox being the current world champions and with opening day right around the corner, people will be more excited to hear it now than ever.
Are you going to play it at opening day at Fenway?
Ken Casey: We don't really know. . . . The opening day seems to have turned into such a circus with the debate about the [World Series] rings and all that, so who knows if they'll be able to add ''Tessie" into the production. But honestly, we've had our run with the Red Sox and they were so great to us. I'll be happy if we can just get some tickets to sit in the stands.
I hear you're also doing a breakfast show at the Black Rose on St. Patrick's Day.
Ken Casey: We're just doing a couple of songs, but we're used to it. It's a day when people start early. And we probably won't go to bed the night before. That's how we'll handle it.
Can you say anything about the new album, ''The Warrior's Code," coming out in June?It sounds like a title for amovie.
Ken Casey: Yeah, and someone should have made a movie while we were making it. Those were hectic times. I had just had a baby when we started it -- and we were in recording 14 hours a day. Someone could have made a good comedy of errors, I'll tell you. You get a little delirious when you're working that many hours. But it came out great. And I'm actually going to be finishing the mix on it when we get back from England. So during St. Patrick's Day, if you see me out in my car in front of Avalon listening to a song, that's what I'm doing. I'll be checking the mixes so we can get them done by the end of the month.
What about the lyrics of the new songs?
Ken Casey: The first track is about a friend [Greg Riley] who passed away. . . . And the second song is about the career of Massachusetts boxer Mickey Ward. . . . So, as always, there are stories about local people and stories about death and about partying. I guess it incorporates all the aspects of life.
By Steve Morse