Review and Photos by Danielle Boise
It had been since 2008 since the Los Angeles-based punkobilly meet psychobilly, rock trio, Tiger Army performed at the Tabernacle, and they did not disappoint as they opened for the Dropkick Murphys’ 20th Anniversary Tour at the Tabby on Saturday, March 5 in the heart of downtown Atlanta. With a high energy set, that included “Rumble” and “FTW,” along with debut a new song, called “Prisoner of the Night,” off their soon-to-be released spring album. Tiger Army got the crowd primed for Dropkick Murphys, and did a hell of a job doing that.
“The boys are back and they are looking for trouble.” For 20 years, Dropkick Murphys has been providing fans with a a ruckus, patriotic-infused, good-old fashion Irish kick-ass time. Full of fast and furried songs spent with throttled meaning, along with supporting a variety of community based causes. The Boston pride runs deep and proud throughout Dropkick Murphys as they brought their own style of rock to the Tabernacle for a sold out show that rivaled any other that I’ve seen there. Seriously, you can’t go wrong with a DKM show.
With a 26-song set list, the Dropkick Murphys did not disappoint, as they kicked into gear with the rock portion of the night with “Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya” followed by “Out of Our Heads,” “Walk Away,” “Famous for Nothing,” “Sunshine Highway” and a delicious Clash cover of “Career Opportunities.” DKM performed the beautifully haunting “Rose Tattoo,” a new song off their latest release, Singed and Sealed in Blood, followed by “The Auld Triangle,” “Heroes From Our Past,” “Caps and Bottles,” The Press cover of “21 Guitar Salute,” a Rodgers & Hammerstein cover of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” followed by “Flannigans Ball” and “The Ghosts of Rock & Roll” before entering their acoustic portion of the night, with songs like, “Barroom Hero,” “The Gang’s All Here,” “Sandlot,” “The State of Massachusetts,” “The Gauntlet” and ended with “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.” For the encore Dropkick Murphys came back out onto stage “Worker’s Song” and then brought the throttle of fans onto the stage for the final songs, “Kiss Me, I’m Shittfaced,” “Skinhead on the MBTA,” and ended on a high note with “Having a Party.
What I have to say I love the most about Dropkick Murphys is not only their dedication to their music and their fans, but they bleed red, white and blue to the core; very patriotic and gives back to the community through Children’s Charities and honors returning vets and other military organizations, feeling regardless of what side of the line you fall on that these men and women deserve the respect and honor that should be granted to them.
Honorable, humble and full of hell – that’s the Dropkick Murphys through-and-through, and worth the ticket price everytime. They continue their US tour through March 20, ending at Brighton Music Hall in Massachusetts before heading to Europe this summer.
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