Sometimes I need to be reminded of what assholes some of the people in Boston are, to do this all I had to do was go to the Molson Snow Jam for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and the Dropkick Murphys. Dont get me wrong, I love the city of Boston, the history, the tradition, the Celtics, the beer, everything about it. But sometimes people can be real shitheads and this is one of those times...
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are a band I have wanted to see for a long time but none of my friends really like ska that much, but this time I decided to force my girlfriend to go with me... As I waited for the Bosstones to get started the Molson Snow Jam head honcho wanted to congratulate an athlete that was leaving the tour a day early and going on the Tony Hawk tour. As he was talking people booed, threw things, and chanted for the Bosstones to come on. Show a little respect people... assholes. Anyway, the show was good but the sound was a little off. The guitars were very loud and treble heavy and the bass was very quiet but the horns were right on. I was impressed with the song selection as well, for a band with a relatively new album I expected most of the songs to be from A Jacknife to a Swan. I was pleasantly surprised to hear songs like "Where did you go", the first song that Dicky and Joe ever wrote together (I didn't catch the name), among others from earlier Bosstone outings. All in all I think that if the Bosstones had been playing in a club the sound would be much more on and you could have understood the guitars, drums, and bass much better. I wish I could say more about the performance but nothing really struck me that was very exciting or very bad so I will just leave it as a mediocre performance.
Before the Dropkick Murphys took the stage the Molson Snow Jam awards were given out to boos, stuff thrown at the athletes and hosts, chants of "Lets Go Murphys." Again couldnt us people of Boston show some respect to athletes that worked their ass off for 3 months straight. What can I say about the Dropkick Murphys. I love them more than any other band there ever was. And as soon as I saw that they had announced a Boston show I purchased my tickets right away. The Fly the Flag contest was back for this show too and I couldnt wait to get a start on mine. I chose a 5'x7' tan flag with a shamrock in the middle that said Irish Punk Rock around it. If anyone was there and saw it you witnessed the greatest flag known to man... ok well maybe not but who cares... I still got a shitload of free merch from the Murphys for making my flag. The Dropkick Murphys surpised me and didnt open with For Boston, but opened with Cadence to Arms which was a good choice as far as I was concerned. Then of course kicked into Do or Die. Despite the outdoor venue, which I ussually dont like, the Murphys sounded incredible. Songs like Blood and Whisky, Curse of a Fallen Soul, Boys on the Docks, and Cadence to Arms all represented the earlier works of the Dropkick Murphys, while Good Rats, the Gauntlet, Spicy McHaggis Jig, and The Dirty Glass represented the newer, more folk oriented style the Murphys have adopted. Closing the show with a cover of Teenage Wasteland was not the way I would have chose to close the show... especially with no encore being planned (or allowed by Molson, or Bayside Expo Center). All in all I wasnt dissapointed at all... except when the encore that was definitley expected didnt happen.
Molson despite putting on a great show wasnt given the respect they deserved for bringing great acts to Boston and didnt seem too pleased by the actions of the spectators, and I dont blame them one bit. Some people are assholes sometimes.