Dropkick Murphys- not really my style

I got Laurie tickets for her birthday to see the Dropkick Murphys at the Agannis Arena in Boston. The Dropkick Murphys are a Boston band that made it big. They mix Irish music and punk rock. Their biggest hit by far is Shipping up to Boston. No matter where they go on tour, they always schedule the week of St. Patrick's Day to come home and do a show or two. This year, they did a couple shows at the House of Blues and last night's show at Agannis. Tickets weren't bad. I think our seats were $35.

The time on the ticket said the show started at 4:30 pm. I knew from what I read that after the concert the band would be at the House of Blues later where there would be boxing. This lead me to believe the Murphy's would start at 4:30 and be over around 6:30-7 pm. Although this is a weird time for a Saturday concert I liked the idea of being back at my house at 8 pm. Because we drove to the red line subway station then took the subway to the arena, we had to leave my house at 2:15 pm. This worked perfectly since we walked into the arena at 4:10.

So I was a bit disappointed as we were walking around we overheard people say there were two opening bands and the Murphy's would not be going on until 6:30. I had no desire to see the opening acts and it just added two hours to our two hours to get there. None the less we were stuck. We watched the first band. During the second band Laurie and I walked through the arena. We bought a bucket of popcorn and found an open spot to eat it. The Boston University hockey team plays at Agannis Arena. Along the walls are murals of past players that played in the Olympics, NHL and the BU Hall of Fame. I got some pictures including the two most famous guys on the 1980 team, goalie Jim Craig and Mike Eruzione. The stadium is only twelve years old, but it is beautiful, it looks twelve days old.
Finally 6:30 came around. I knew going in I wouldn't know a lot of songs. I figured the energy of the Boston crowd along with their prodigal sons would just be fun. The punk rock band has a huge following and I understand why. They are very talented and mix in a lot of instruments including bagpipes and accordion. For me personally, they play too fast and the vocals are a lot of screaming. Also the instruments are so loud, it was tough to follow the lyrics unless I knew the song anyway.

My favorite songs during their set were covers of Taking Care of Business and a Just What I needed. After 90 minutes they went off stage. When they came back I knew what was coming and was the sole purpose of me being there. They played Shipping Up to Boston and two other songs during the encore. This was by far my favorite part of my night. After the encore we took the crowded Green line back to Park Street and took it back to our car. We ended up getting home about 10:15, which wasn't real late anyway.

Usually when I go to a concert, when I leave I feel it is the best one ever. That didn't happen tonight but I knew what I was getting myself into. The Dropkick Murphy's just aren't my kind of music. They are a great band for their style, just not mine. That said, I did get to cross them off my bucket list. Seeing the Irish rockers play Boston during St. Patrick's week is something I always wanted to do.
Mission accomplished

Cool pics from Agannis Arena below