Dropkick Murphys - Live on Lansdowne, MA

  by Daniel Cressey

published: 4 / 4 / 2010

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Since they appeared in a blast of Irish-folk and American punk in the late 90s the Dropkick Murphys have proudly touted their allegiance to both Massachusetts and the less salubrious side of life. This is the second live album the Boston-Irish band have recorded at one of their annual run of St Patrick's Day gigs in their home-town (and it comes with a bonus video of the same tracks). It says something about their output that despite sharing only one track with the previous album, this latest raucous offering doesn't feel light, being full of shout along anthems to drinking, friendship, drinking with friends, fighting, some more drinking and a dash of punk politics thrown in for good measure. Firmly rooted in their hometown they may be – as demonstrated by their ode to local hockey team the Bruins 'Time to Go' – but the Murphys are also steeped in their heritage from the other side of the Atlantic. Hence the 'Fields of Athenry' cover with its tale of the Great Famine and a punked-up version of the anti-war 'Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya' appear with the Murphys' own takes on the same subjects, such as their bleak, raging tale of broken families 'The State of Massachusetts' and 'Citizen CIA'. But where the Murphys really come alive – and the moments when you can really hear the crowd on what might otherwise be a studio album, given the quality – are the songs about drinking. This is perhaps unsurprising given the album was recorded over six nights around a day noted now more for its drinking potential than the religious figure it is nominally named after. Ode to alcoholism 'The Dirty Glass' is wonderful. Even better is the braggart's list of lies 'Kiss Me I'm Shitfaced': “I can bench press a car/ I'm an ex-football star/"With degrees from both Harvard and Yale”. If the music doesn't make you wish you were there the DVD should. If they don't, then have a few more drinks, you'll soon be singing along if you've got any heart at all.

Track Listing:-

1 Famous For Nothing
2 The State Of Massachusetts
3 Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya
4 Time To Go
5 Sunshine Highway
6 (F)lannigan's Ball
7 Bastards On Parade
8 God Willing
9 Caught In A Jar
10 Captain Kelly's Kitchen
11 Citizen C.I.A.
12 Fields Of Athenry
13 Your Spirit's Alive
14 The Warrior's Code
15 The Dirty Glass
16 Tessie
17 Forever 2009
18 Worker's Song
19 Kiss Me I'm S&!%faced
20 I'm Shipping Up To Boston

Band Links:-

https://dropkickmurphys.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DropkickMurphys

Label Links:-

http://cookingvinyl.com/
https://twitter.com/cookingvinyl
https://www.youtube.com/user/cookingvinylrecords
https://instagram.com/cookingvinyl/
https://www.facebook.com/cookingvinylrecords

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