The House of Blues Orlando picked up the spirit of the Irish on March 6, 2019 when Dropkick Murphys stopped there on part of their tour. The Celtic punk band drew in a sold-out crowd that evening and it was shoulder to shoulder throughout the venue where there were laughs, smiles, fun, and unfortunately some fights within the crowd. With them on the tour was Lenny Lashley’s Gang of One and Booze & Glory.
Lenny Lashley has been part of the Boston punk scene for over 20 years. Whether it be playing solo or making cameo appearances with bands like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones or Street Dogs, Lenny is a very creative artist who bleeds his heart and soul into his music. After taking a hiatus from the music scene, Lenny put together a band under Lenny Lashley’s Gang of One. So far they had released one EP, their studio album Illuminator, and in February 2019 their sophomore album All Are Welcome. Opening that evening, Lenny Lashley’s Gang of One performed well for the crowd. The crowd was engaged and intently focused on their music during their set and cheered loudly for them after each song.
The London punk band Booze & Glory is celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. Formed by the influence of the UK punk bands of the ’70s and ’80s, they found themselves racking up a very impressive fan base across the world. They consider themselves an international band with their members hailing from various countries. Racking up three albums since their first in 2010, their fourth and most recent album was appropriately titled Chapter IV. When they toured in 2017 they performed 100 shows over 4 separate continents. And now they are planning their fifth album to release in September 2019. The band consisting of Mark RSK (vocals, guitar), Kahan (lead guitar), Chema Zurita (bass), and Frank Pellegrino (drums) rocked the crowd and got them moving and bouncing on the pit floor.
“Days, Months, Years” from Chapter IV kicked it off for the band to a great start. The crowd was absolutely loving their punk rock sound and I was too. Chema Zurita was a wild man, playing from one side of the stage to another. The followed with “The Time Is Now” also from Chapter IV. The song not only provides a great message but had such energy behind it. The crowd got more and more engaged with the band as they played through their set. Their music, personality, and performance was a perfect package that night. This crowd applauded and hollered as they wrapped up their set.
The setlist that night included:
- Days, Months & Years
- The Time Is Now
- Carry On
- Violence and Fear
- Live It Up
- Simple
- Blood From a Stone
- London Skinhead Crew
- Only Fools Get Caught
And then, Dropkick Murphys was ready to take the stage. The band from Quincy, MA has been around since 1996 entertaining fans with their punk music. With their debut album Let’s Face It fans immediately were drawn to them and they went on tour with The Mighty Mighty Bosstones to support the album. And that would be just the beginning of a long illustrious ride. The band would release 8 more studio albums with their latest being 11 Short Stories of Pain & Glory released in 2017, be involved in various charities, including The Claddagh Fund, and even get to perform at Gilette Stadium opening for The New England Patriots. And each year the band performs a special show on St. Patrick’s Day in the Boston area. Members Ken Casey (vocals), Al Barr (vocals), Matt Kelly (drums), James Lynch (guitar), Tim Brennan (guitar, mandolin, and many more), Jeff DeRosa (banjo, guitar, mandolin, and many more) walked out on stage with touring member Kevin Rheault (bass) to other touring member Lee Forshner playing the bagpipes.
The band wasted no time getting things moving with “Cadence to Arms” from Do or Die and then into “The Boys Are Back” from Signed and Sealed in Blood. With a platform sitting directly in the middle of the photo pit, Ken and Al frequently stepped out while singing to fist bump, high five, and shake hands with fans in the front. They were excited, the fans were excited, and the entire House of Blues lit up with energy as you’ve never seen at a concert. Unfortunately, that energy also had some bad results as some fights broke out in the crowd and one of them when the band stopped their performance to ensure security had it under control. Ken did joke with the crowd about it trying to keep the atmosphere lighthearted before they were back in full swing.
Dropkick Murphys set seemed to go on forever, which was OK with the House of Blues crowd. The 25 song set included songs such as “The Fighting 69th”, “The Walking Dead”, “Boys on the Dock”, “Rose Tattoo”, and “I’m Shipping Up To Boston”. All the way through that was certain, every song was a hit for the fans, and they wanted more and more. They brought out a special guest by the name of Teagan who sang “The Dirty Glass” with the band. She had an amazing voice and the fans loved it. They also brought up a bunch of female bands filling the stage when they performed “Kiss Me, I’m Shitfaced”. The band closed out with a cover of AC\DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”.
Their setlist that night:
- Cadence to Arms
- The Boys Are Back
- Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya
- Blood
- Time To Go
- Curse of a Fallen Soul
- The Gang’s All Here
- The Fighting 69th
- The State of Massachusetts
- Sandlot
- Buried Alive
- The Fields of Athenry (Pete St. John cover)
- The Walking Dead
- The Dirty Glass
- Sunshine Highway
- Surrender
- You’ll Never Walk Alone (Rodgers and Hammerstein cover)
- Boys on the Docks
- Out of Our Heads
- Worker’s Song
- Rose Tattoo
- I’m Shipping Up to Boston
- Kiss Me, I’m Shitfaced
- Skinhead on the MBTA
- Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (AC/DC cover)
Overall a very fun and high energy show and performance by all three bands. The Orlando crowd will be looking forward for their return.