Civet

Dropkick Murphys / H2O / Civet: live in Minneapolislive in Minneapolis (2009)
East/West

Reviewer Rating: 3

Contributed by: GlassPipeMurderGlassPipeMurder
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on March 10th 2009In Jersey, they're called guidos. In Boston, they're chuckleheads. Southern California just calls them bros. Wherever you are or whatever you do, there's an overabundance of intolerably obnoxious, pinheaded macho males that effectively ruin some prime sector of society. In Minneapolis we have a very.

In Jersey, they're called guidos. In Boston, they're chuckleheads. Southern California just calls them bros. Wherever you are or whatever you do, there's an overabundance of intolerably obnoxious, pinheaded macho males that effectively ruin some prime sector of society. In Minneapolis we have a very special pejorative amalgamation for the types of people we don't want crowding our concerts and bars with their noxious colognes and juvenile mentalities and they are unaffectionately known exclusively as dude-bros. And in 2009, the dude-bros have put down their O.A.R. CDs, put on their green polos and found a whole new reason to get drunk: the Dropkick Murphys.

The sad reality is that the Dropkick Murphys haven't even really done anything to acquire these distasteful fans. Sure, they gained a few more mainstream fans signing with the Warner-backed Independent Label Group, but not a whole lot more than were already jumping on the bandwagon at the end of their Hellcat stint. As a touring band looking to make a living and spread their music, I'm sure the Dropkick Murphys could give a shake who listens to their music as long as people do, but it sure makes it difficult to have fun at their shows anymore.

I wasn't even planning on going to this show. Sure, I enjoy the Murphys and their second-slot opener H20, but not enough to pay 25 bucks to hang out with frat goons and jocks, and as previously mentioned, the Myth is the worst place imaginable for a punk show. But my friend Josh (of Minneapolis thrash attack Mutagen) called sick asking if I'd accompany their bassist Cory to the show, so I accepted the offer and made the 20-minute drive to suburban St. Paul.

Though arriving about an hour and a half late, we still arrived just in time to see Civet begin their set. There were a couple times where they didn't sound too bad, but for some reason their lead singer ruins most of their songs with her Brody Dalle impression, even though she is capable of much better quality singing, as she would prove later joining the Murphys for "The Dirty Glass."

I was a little apprehensive about how H2O's high-energy performance would translate in a venue as large as the Myth. They were great when I saw them open for Bane in November, but that was in a much more intimate setting at the Triple Rock. Pessimistic expectations aside, H2O ended up making this show worth the trip, busting out classics like "5 Year Plan," "Family Tree" and newer tunes like "What Happened?" and "Still Here." The highlight was a medley of sorts, combining parts of the Clash's "Rudie Can't Fail," Fugazi's "Waiting Room" and several others I can't recall now. It was encouraging to see enough people getting into H2O, and that they can still be gaining new fans 14 years into their career.

After an excessively long setup (that included one fistfight in the crowd and, incidentally, an ejection from the show, and some poor bastard paying $20 to do a body shot off the platinum blonde booze-slinger), the lights finally dimmed and some traditional Celtic crooning floated through the club as stagehands whisked down the curtains to reveal an extravagant Irish Catholic cathedral backdrop. Roars of cheer filled the Myth as the Murphys marched onstage, donning black button-up shirts and pressed pants, looking more business casual than working class. Kicking into their first song (unrecognizable to me), they seemed as though they were playing about half-speed of what I would expect. The audience didn't seem to mind.

A quick glance at the "D" section of my CD library shows that I have eight Dropkick Murphys albums, starting with Do or Die and going all the way up to The Meanest of Times, skipping only Blackout and The Early Years collection along the way. However, I recognized just about half the songs during their performance, either because the band was a little loose in their execution, my earplugs were in too tight, or maybe I was just too distracted by all the dude-bros and fratboys physically threatening the "different" people around them (I witnessed this more than once) or the obnoxious amount of flashes from every soon-to-be Facebook photo album. There were a few amusing moments, like when the Murphys invited all the ladies on stage for "Kiss Me I'm Shitfaced." Some scraggly-haired male accidentally found his way on stage, arms raised in triumph, before being quickly ushered off to make way for more dude-bro eye candy. To my left, an older gentleman was Googling "dropkick kiss shit faced lyrics" on his Blackberry, though in his defense none of the girls on stage seemed to know the words either. At one point, a bro with a white T-shirt and signatures all over it gave me a thumbs up and after several moments of awkwardness, motioned for me to sign his shirt. I signed the sleeve, "Yeah brah!"

Though I can't really say I had too much fun outside of "Curse of a Fallen Soul," "Sunshine Highway," the Civet / Murphys duet of "The Dirty Glass" and the entire H2O set, I can't say it wasn't worth the money. Sometimes having sick friends is a good thing.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

melu89 (February 20, 2011)

Yeah they're my guidos. Sweet review. Hope to see you again in NJ

ontheattack (March 11, 2009)

matt kelly is dying inside.

pricey123 (March 11, 2009)

score is for frenzal rhomb who supported them when i saw them years ago

tmlca818 (March 11, 2009)

Good Review. Much better than the DKM review last week. Thanks

iruineverything (March 10, 2009)

I've been going to Dropkick shows for about 9 years and I find them pretty hit or miss these days. I went to the Roseland show and I can honestly say it was one of the best times I've ever seen them. The set list wasn't great by any means (3 off Do or Die, 2 off Gang's All Here, and only a few random ones off Sing Loud), but the band gave a top notch performance.

Their cover of Badlands was phenomenal. H2O put on a headliner-caliber set. Overall, I agree the crowds at DKM shows have definitely hindered the experience of their shows, but the band more than made up for it at Roseland.

Sorry to hear you had a bad time. Don't give up on them; they'll suprise you with some incredible performances every now and again.

Drunkpunk711 (March 10, 2009)

Unfortunately DKM is becoming the new Sublime, every frat boy's new band to do a beer bong to. That weighed in on my decision not to go to the DKM show at Roseland in NYC. Not to mention DKM's beyond horrible song selection for their set list, My constant annoyance with H2O fans (although I love the band) and just the pure shit and untalented stylings of (we suck Tim Armstrong's cock for a record deal) Civet. Its a shame cause i love the Murphys i just don't have any ambition any more to see them live.

xkidxdynamitex (March 10, 2009)

you know josh and corey?
holy shit i bet we have met before.
i played with josh in inhumane genocide. until he quit and then made a better band.

oldschoolguy (March 10, 2009)

Forgot to mention that Ken Casey stated they would be playing the Irish Fair (free!) here in St Paul in August which should be a hell of a lot better than the piece of shit Myth!

Spalmer (March 10, 2009)

I think the problem here is the Myth... shitty club, shitty crowds... it's designed for dbags

oldschoolguy (March 10, 2009)

I would say this is only a halfway accurate review. As far as the crowd goes, it WAS pretty lame. It was a totally different crowd that showed up back in November 2007. That crowd was a Murphys crowd, even some singing along to Billy Bragg's "There Is Power In A Union". This year's crowd barely knew the words to "Boys On The Docks". I am guessing a lot of people stayed away because the Myth sucks. Case in point about he crowd: I managed to get onstage for "Skinhead" and started singing along in one of the mics thinking others would join...... no one did. And at the end the other morons behind me started thanking me for the show thinking I was in the band! One girl even hugged me while thanking me. Did they not look at the stage the entire show? So yes, the crowd SUCKED!

DKM on the other hand was great! The reviewer states that they did not know what the first song was and that they were only playing at half speed. The first song was "Famous For Nothing" of their latest which the reviewer claims to own. They were not playing it at half the speed and sounded great. DKM also played "Pipebomb On Lansdowne" which I had not seen them play in years. The reviewer is right that the crowd that showed up is not DKM's fault. In the end, I have loved DKM for years and will continue to. But I do look forward to when the jocko's go get drunk somewhere else.

Ghoti34 (March 10, 2009)

the H2O song "what happened" can pretty much some of the scene at this show (from what the reviewer has indicated)

While this tour won't be making any stops in Orlando, I am a bit curious as to what the crowd will be like for the Pennywise/Pepper US tour. Tix are $30 at the box office for the show at the HOB in Orlando. The total rises to around $42 if you buy the tix from ticketmaster.

bouncingseth (March 10, 2009)

I saw this same show over the summer in Jersey. I don't want to sound like a dick, but Civet's all girl thing MUST be a gimmick, otherwise they would probably just get a drummer that could play. I completely agree with the reviewer about Civet's singer...she can sing really well when she wants to. I guess she just never does.

At the show in Jersey, Ken Casey commented on the array of fans, from the "jocks" to the "kids with mohawks." Then, before playing a faster song, he instructed the kids with mohawks to beat up on the jocks. So at least they're aware.

Also at the show in Jersey, Mighty Mighty Bosstones played instead of H2O making the show VERY MUCH worth the money.

joeg (March 10, 2009)

sounds like the show in baltimore.

skolarx (March 10, 2009)

that comes pretty close to how i felt about the detroit show in all regards