Flogging Molly with Beat Union and The Loved Ones
Amos Southend
Sept. 21, 2008
The Deal: The septet of Celtic-punk rockers known as Flogging Molly caused an energy-filled ruckus during its powerful performance at Amos Southend. Along with them was Birmingham, England-based power-pop punk rockers Beat Union and Philadelphia-based punk group The Loved Ones.
The Good: The first band to play was Beat Union. They pressed the crowd to jump and played songs like Cant Stop the Radio from its debut album Disconnected. Next came The Loved Ones who delivered a strong set of punk rock tunes, which seemed to get the crowd excited. But, it wasnt until Flogging Molly set foot on the stage that the crowd got hotter and more rambunctious. Towards the front of the stage, a throbbing mosh pit started up and from that came a stream of sweaty pushers and fearless crowd surfers. Flogging Molly played numbers from all four of its studio albums to a tee. Each song had punk-rock flare amongst the bands traditional Irish set of roots this is what gives them standing in the music scene, along with Dave Kings fiery, soul filled vocals. Using instruments like the fiddle, accordion, tin whistle, mandolin, guitar, bass and drums, Flogging Molly makes you either want to go crazy or dance a wee jig. At the show, they played the punk anthem Rebels Of The Sacred Heart, as well as other Irish jams like Requiem For A Dying Song, where the audience joined along in claps, and Drunken Lullabies, which caused more of a jumpy stir to the untamed atmosphere. There was never much of a stop to the action, although the band did slow down a wee bit with Float and If I Ever Leave This World Alive. Every song had the crowd going wild from start to finish.
The Bad: If you dont like to feel packed-in-like-a-sardine at shows, then this one wouldnt have been your forte. It was hard to get around and wasnt easy to avoid getting elbowed, pushed or knocked against someone so sweaty that youd think summer had returned threefold. Heavy moshing dominated the area in front of the stage.
The Verdict: An ass-kicking, raucous-raising concert that explains just why Flogging Molly has been moving up the charts all these years. If you wanted Irish and punk rock, this show had it all. Flogging Mollys pumping performance met higher than high of expectations.
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