The terms “Celtic” and “punk,” on their own, don’t seem to belong together. But after nearly two decades, Flogging Molly has made a career out of fusing the two genres into a maelstrom of catchy shanties and drunken sentiments. So when I was offered the chance to see the legendary L.A. act in person, I jumped on it, and was treated to the best concert I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
I didn’t really know what to expect on my first-ever visit to Jannus Live, and I was met with a quaint outdoor venue that felt a bit too small for the sheer volume of people crammed into it. However, sharing so little space with the people around me made the night all the more fun. We all fed off each others’ energy as the curtain fell away to reveal the stage and signal the start of the show that had brought us all here on this night.
Flogging Molly hit the stage and delivered an eclectic mix of old favorites, acoustic rarities, and fresh material from a forthcoming album. The group set a fast pace from note one, placing fan favorite “Drunken Lullabies” two songs deep. Other highlights: “Black Friday Rule,” “Seven Deadly Sins,” and my personal favorite “Devil's Dance Floor,” which set the crowd on fire and prompted wild beer flinging and spirited moshing.
The band performed three songs in an acoustic format, making for a nice change of pace songs like “If I Ever Leave this World Alive” and “The Wanderlust” spurring a crowd-size sway-along. The evening’s most anticipated numbers was a fresh track off an album set to be released this summer and performed on a recent episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live: “The Hand of John L. Sullivan,” which both hearkens back to classic Flogging Molly while ushering in a new age.
Their performance wasn’t flashy nor extravagant, but it didn’t need to be, and what really sold it were the musicians themselves; lead vocalist Dave King trotted across the stage like a crude Irish Angus Young, filling the night with quips, commentary and cheeky jokes as well as impromptu, more personal divulgences. By the end of the night, it really felt like the band was playing their home away from home, and that every single person in the place was a brother or sister or old friend. In sum, it felt like being accepted into a crazy, drunken, dysfunctional family you never knew you had and having the time of your life in the midst of it all.
The show wound down but the beer kept flowing, the crowd kept moshing and the band played well into the night with smiles on their faces. As I looked around, I realized this was truly an experience I’d never had with any other kind of band. Here was a crowd composed of people from across the state and all walks of life — different genders, socioeconomic, and age groups (7 to 70), all losing their shit over an L.A. band with Dublin, Ireland roots. Where else are you going to see such diversity all gathered in one place to enjoy such a seemingly strange style of music?
At least a dozen cop cruisers were sitting out front of the venue after the event, waiting for our drunk arses to leave. That’s how you knew Flogging Molly had come to town.
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 4, 2016.