Dropkicks Sell Out Boston Shows

Between 1775 and 1776, American troops besieged Boston, eventually wrenching control from the British. Since then, our fair city has sat squarely in American hands. But when seminal punk band Dropkick Murphys invade the Avalon Ballroom for a series of four sold-out St. Patrick’s Day shows this weekend, Boston will have a new proprietor: the Irish.

The Dropkick Murphys have made quite a name for themselves since they formed in 1996 in the basement of a Boston barbershop. Over the past seven years, they have released four full-length albums, a steady stream of singles and split 7´´ and they toured as if stasis were out of style.

The band’s music offers a rousing blend of oi!—a type of punk music—and Irish folk songs in a seemingly oil-and-water concoction that tastes surprisingly like a pint of Guinness. Their songs range from rowdy drinking anthems to rousing calls to arms.

Much of the Murphys’ fervent fan base also grew around their music’s working class appeal. Protest songs such as “Which Side Are You On?” and “10 Years of Service” speak to blue collar punk fans who are increasingly disenchanted by punk’s now widely-commercialized image.

Dropkicks guitarist and accordionist Marc Orrell, however, says the group’s success is still something of a mystery.

Orrell joined the Dropkicks in 1999, at a time when the band was undergoing some major personnel changes. He recounts the story of how he originally became a member.

“My friend had an accordion that he got from a garage sale, and I wanted to borrow it for a while,” he says. “I got the offer from [guitarist James Lynch] to try out for the Dropkicks. At the audition I [told him] ‘I have an accordion,’ and he was like, ‘Wait, you have an accordion?’ I didn’t even know how to play it, but I [said] ‘Yeah, sure I can play it.’ That’s kind of what got my foot through the door.”

Orrell played with the band on the 2001 release Sing Loud, Sing Proud, the album that established their dominance over the punk scene. It included standout tracks such as the single “Good Rats,” featuring Shane MacGowan of the legendary Irish rock band The Pogues, and “For Boston,” a rendition of a Boston College fight song.

There are no current plans to adapt any Harvard fight songs, says Orrell, who says he didn’t even know that the Crimson even had a fight song.

“We’ll try and get a hold of one,” he says.

“For Boston” also kicks off the Dropkicks’ latest release, a live album that draws from the band’s three sold-out St. Patrick’s Day shows in 2002. This album was meant as a gift to the hundreds of fans who packed the Avalon last year, and is an example of what fans can expect at this year’s shows.

According to Orrell, the Dropkicks play the St. Patrick’s Day shows “just for the kids. If we weren’t playing in Boston all the time, it wouldn’t be special.”

The band wanted a smaller venue for the shows so that the audience could have a more personal experience.

“I guess what we try to do is just relate to the kids,” says Orrell, “and that’s why we like playing clubs. We like to be intimate with the crowd.”

With the first of the shows only days away, the set lists are yet to be determined. Orrell claims that the band is “still debating about them in practice.”

“We’re still practicing for the shows,” he says. “Us Murphys always want to give the kids their money’s worth.”

One issue that won’t factor into the set lists is the potential war in Iraq, despite the strong military undertones in many Dropkicks songs.

“We’re not going to try to emphasize that in the shows,” Orrell says. “I’m sure we’ll send shout-outs, ‘cause I have some buddies out in Kuwait right now, but we’re not going to have some political lecture where everyone’s sitting on the floor Indian-style.”

After the four shows are over and the dust has once again settled in Boston, the Dropkick Murphys’ future will be as eventful as ever. They just finished work on their new album Blackout, which is currently being mastered for a June 10 release.

The new album will feature “something a little different,” says Orrell.

“It’s kind of mixing around everything. A couple of traditional Irish tunes, a couple of rockers, a couple of covers.”

Blackout will feature covers of two songs by Woody Guthrie, an artist whose working class ideals are kept alive by the Dropkicks.

“Woody’s daughter gave us some lyrics and was like, ‘Please put some music to this,’” recalls Orrell.

Work is also being done on the band’s first DVD, set to come out in 2004. It will have live footage from last year’s St. Patrick’s Day shows, as well as an assortment of their music videos.

The Dropkicks say they will continue touring while they adjust to the recent departure of one of their most important members—bagpiper Spicy McHaggis—who reportedly left the band to pursue a family with his girlfriend.

McHaggis’ temporary replacement is Joe Delaney, who played pipes on the earlier albums Do or Die and The Gang’s All Here. But Orrell says he doubts that Delaney will be able to return as a full-time member of the band.

“He’s like 40 year’s old and he’s got a good job and a wife,” Orrell laments. “Also, his wife doesn’t really like it that much.”

The band will play an extended stint on this summer’s Van’s Warped Tour. This will be the band’s second appearance on the ska and punk festival, which will descend on Boston’s Suffolk Downs on July 31.

“I can’t wait,” gushes Orrell. “It’s just a big goddamn circus with lots of friends I haven’t seen in a while.”

He launches into a list of fellow punk comrades whom he is eager to play with, but singles out one scruffy young rocker in particular.

“Andrew W.K., that guy fucking rules,” says Orrell, laughing gleefully. “Dirty fucking guy that the kids love. That guy’s going to save rock ’n roll.”

Provided, of course, that the Dropkick Murphys don’t beat him to it.