Dropkick Murphys @ Main Street Armory in Rochester, New York.
Dropkick Murphys @ Main Street Armory in Rochester, New York.
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Dropkick Murphys, the Boston based, Celtic punk rockers brought its St. Patrick’s Day American Tour to Rochester, New York slugging it out onstage in front of a willing audience.
The normally 8-piece band was down singer Al Barr who is taking care of his ailing mom back home. Co-singer Ken Casey took over full lead vocal duties and with help from friends it still fired on all cylinders delivering an impressive, upbeat performance consisting of 28 songs.
One thing about a Dropkick Murphys concert is their sets are a bit longer and they sound tougher than some of their cohorts.
It’s that kind of blue-collar work ethic plus a few twists (covers including “We Shall Overcome” and AC/DC’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll Singer”) that made it a memorable night.
The band kicked it off with “Cadence to Arms.” Singer Casey moved around the stage like a boxer, one moment sprinting, another moment ready to fight.
His energy fed off from the band that in turn lit up the crowd. He belted out tunes such as “Which Side Are You On?” and “Rose Tattoo.”
Dropkick Murphys closed with trademark “Kiss Me, I’m Shitfaced” and then did a two song encore to end the show. It’s clear that Dropkick Murphys have this whole St. Patrick’s Day thing down. 7/10
Review by Roman Jones
Photo credit: Roman Divezur