Gig Review – DROPKICK MURPHYS, Barrowlands, Glasgow- 16 January 2013

For those of you who don’t know Glasgow, the Barrowlands venue is a stone’s throw from Parkhead, the home of Celtic Football Club. With the close proximity a lot of the bars in the area have a distinctly Irish theme, none more so than Baird’s bar which is one door up from the venue itself. On passing the door on the way to the venue Baird’s appeared to be doing brisk business which is hardly surprising as a Murphys gig and copious amounts of alcohol go hand in hand.

As always though, being the diligent reviewer I am, I was straight into the venue to catch the supports for the evening, it’s all about the music after all ! First up we were treated to a short and sweet set from Cornish folkies, Crowns, who put in a great set. Full of enthusiasm, the guys blasted out their Levellers style folk rock with a lot of heart that soon won over the crowd. Playing tracks from their debut album, ‘Stitches In The Flag’, the band impressed and by the end of the last number they got a great send off from the appreciative crowd.

Next up were Wyoming punks, Teenage Bottlerocket. They hit the stage at full pelt and never really let up for the duration of their 40 minute slot. It did though all feel a bit forced whilst the music at times sounded sloppy. There were a couple of decent tracks and the guys were enthusiastic but ultimately they failed to impress. They did get a cheer at the end but I got the feeling that not many of the crowd would be hunting down their CD’s

With Baird’s bar now empty and the Barrowlands rammed the Dropkick Murphys took to the stage to chants of ‘Glasgow Murphys’ and with the opening bars of ‘The Boys Are Back’ from their new album, ‘Signed And Sealed In Blood’, they lit the touchpaper and stood well back. As expected the crowd erupted, bouncing along with beer flying.

The first few songs were delivered like rapid fire, the stage swathed in green light, with Al Barr and Matt Kelly belting out the vocals ably backed up by 1500 voices in the crowd. ‘Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya’, ‘Prisoner’s Song’ and ‘Irish Rover’ all passed in a blur. A large cheer ( and a few good natured boos) went up when ‘The Fields Of Athenry’ was dedicated to Celtic F.C and the set proved to be a good mix of new and old with the new tracks fitting in and going down well.

One of the highlights was the first track to be released from the new album, ‘Rose Tattoo’, which was followed by an electric 1,2,3 of ‘Captain Kelly’s Kitchen’, ‘I’m Shipping Up To Boston’ and ‘Worker’s Song’. After a quick breather and more chants, the band returned for a handful of encores, including a great version of AC/DC’s ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’, to round off a fantastic show.

The Dropkick Murphys had once again provided a great night’s entertainment which the sweaty and beer stained crowd loved every minute of. If you fancy a few pints and a party, ‘ship up’ with Boston’s finest and a great night is guaranteed.

Review and Photos by David Wilson

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

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