Dropkick Murphys, Lucero, TheCorps @ The Enmore Theatre,Sydney (20/10/11)

Mon 24th Oct, 2011 in Gig Reviews

There’s a little Irish in everyone and when Dropkick Murphys come to town for the third time in under two years that little bit of Irish gets a lot bigger, or at least drunker. Showing off tracks from their latest album, Going Out in Style, the Boston boys prove why they’re worth seeing again and again.

Openers, Sydney five piece The Corps, are a chugging blitzkrieg of old school rock and roll with a mix of punk and hardcore thrown in. They fire on all cylinders throughout their set and the driving backbone of their songs make head banging almost impossible.
They churn out classic rock riffs with a venomous edge that makes the blood stand up on the back your neck; the band plays as if they may explode at any moment. By the time they finish the set with the lightning speed punk of Wolf Man, it’s hard to imagine how the band could continue a whole headlining set at such a punishing pace, but it was a perfect fit for their short opening set.

Lucero’s laid back take on alt-country may have seemed an odd choice of meat in the nights punk rock sandwich but there was still a large contingent of fans cheering for them as they took to the stage. Their set, populated with crisp lap steel guitar playing and songs about drinking, was a slow burning affair and felt mismatched in pace after the excitement of the former act on stage. But vocalist and guitarist Ben Nichols won the crowd over with his modest and genuine stage banter about it being their first trip to Australia and how happy they were to be there made the band seem so likable that anyone who wasn’t enjoying their music would have found it hard to resent them for their time on stage.

There is madness in the air when Dropkick Murphys explode from behind a black curtain to the tune of Hang Em High. Circle pits erupt on the floor and seas of people are thrown over the barrier before the band has even finished the first chorus. The bands energy seemed endless; churning through songs of their last record, such as Cruel and Deeds Not Words, as well as older favourites Gonna Be A Blackout Tonight and The Fighting 69th. Sydney’s mosh pit responded in kind and the venue security had their work cut out for them.

While the performance levels were high from both crowd and the band it took a while for the stage sound to catch up. Early songs were dominated by guitar and drums with Al Barr’s vocals so low you could hardly hear him over the audience and banjo and mandolin extraordinaire, Jeff DaRosa, was seen but sadly not heard. The audio issues were soon fixed and had no real effect on the performance on stage.

A mid set acoustic session doesn’t pull any punches from the power of the Dropkicks songs. The acoustic renditions retain their original righteous thunder, Boys On The Docks has it’s chorus stolen by the audience with gusto, all the while adding clarity to the stunning musicianship of the bands members. Bassist Ken Casey chats between songs about the bands strong relationship with Australia and their fond memories of touring, giving an almost VH1 Storytellers feel to the concerts middle section.

Just in case any energy had been lost from their acoustic dalliance, the noise on stage is bumped up a notch for The State of Massachusetts, its extended banjo intro encouraging the entire room to clap along. Classic single Barroom Hero stirs the crowd up but it is the unveiling of the Dropkick Murphy pirate flag and double whammy of Shipping Up To Boston and a cover of AC/DC’s TNT that sees the crowd reach its biggest frenzy as the band bounce around the stage.

An encore that started with the band bringing all the women who were backstage on to sing Kiss Me, I’m Shitfaced started well but soon turned into rock and roll chaos as excited punters rushed the stage. After dissuading security from taking action most of the Murphys hid on the drum riser as Barr and Casey soldiered on through two more songs amongst the onstage mosh pit, closing with Misfits cover, Halloween.
Dropkick Murphys left Sydney bruised and sweaty and Sydney returned the favour.

It’s performances like tonight that show why the Dropkicks visit so often, with a legion of fans risking life and limb just to get a little closer to them. And if they keep delivering such electric performances they’re welcome back anytime.