First Avenue – March 3rd, 2011 6pm

With the ever expanding quality of the Minnesota music scene, some bands have what it takes to stand out above the rest. Epitaph Records found a musical mile stone when they signed Minnesota’s very own punk child, Off With Their Heads. With the recent release of their second full length album In Desolation and their seventh EP properly named Trying To Breathe, there is no better band to open for Dropkick Murphys 2011 St.Patrick’s Day tour. With their witty yet brutal lyrics and the rambunctious use of powercords, makes for a motivating cocktail. With only 30 minutes to stretch their hometown hero muscle, Off With Their Heads took little time trying to work the crowd over with introductions. Off With Their Heads broke the silence the only way they could, with a set list which was a show case who they are and where they came from. With songs like Die Today, Clear The Air and Terrorist Attack, how could you not want to be there? With a long cheer and a quick good night, I couldn’t help to dreaming of what they could do with a longer set.

– David Gerhard

Ever since releasing their newest album, White Crosses, Against Me! has been under much scrutiny.  Many longtime fans of the band felt that Gabel had sold out for a more anthemic, arena rock sound rather than stick to the folk punk roots that made AM! so popular with Reinventing Axl Rose in 2002.  Songs like “White Crosses”, “Teenage Anarchist” and “Rapid Decompression” were deemed too far a stretch from the original song formula and therefore the new album was garnered many unfavorable reviews.  Their setlist from this night and most of the tour contained many favorite songs and a good couple from the new album which honestly sounded pretty damn good live.   The combination of OWTH and AM! was the perfect upbeat punk combination to open for Dropkick Murphys.  After a good set length AM! finished up and the Murphys began setting up.

Since I’ve been a long, long time fan of the Dropkick Murphys and this was my first time seeing them I had many expectations of what the show would be like.  Surprisingly most of those expectations were met within the first 20 minutes.  Bagpipes? Check. Kilt? Check. Banjo? Check. Best goddamn celtic punk band on the planet? Check check check.  The Murphys started off their set with Hang ‘Em High, a new song off their latest album Going Out In Style.  Their set was quite long, spanning almost 20 some songs, playing a mix of all their albums but mostly songs off their new album.  Ken Casey was solid on the bass and one huge noticeable difference was that Al Barr has lost a substantial amount of weight.  Now I don’t know how recent this is but he looks a lot different compared to the DVD from last years performance on Lansdowne.  Anyways Al was as solid as ever delivering his trademark harsh, whiskey ridden vocals and he growled through “Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya” and “Kiss Me I’m Shitfaced.”  The one aspect of the concert that I must stress is that a Murphys show is a huge party.  From the kickoff to the curtain drop it’s a party non-stop, with the energy from the band to the moshing in the pit you are always going to feel like you should be either shaking your fist, slam dancing or at least lifting a beer to your mouth.  During the last song, “Kiss Me, I’m Shitfaced”, the Murphys proceded to first invite many women up onto the stage, most of which were rather intoxicated.  After most of the song was finished they let some of their male comrades join them as well to sing it through the rest of the way.  On that stage you got a glance at an array of breast almost jumping out of shirts, men fulfilling their dreams of singing with the Murphys and the couple fans that had no freaking idea what song they were singing.  Overall this was probably one of the best and most fun concerts I’ve ever been to in my life.  Reason behind this lies with my fandom for the band and the atmosphere of the concert.  That aside there is no more need for me to say this: please go see the Dropkick Murphys if they are coming through your town on tour, especially if you live in Boston.

– Joe Toeben