Opening Bands: Only Crime, Blood and Whiskey
Date: April 25th, 2004
Venue: Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, Hampton, NH

The Dropkick Murphys, known for putting on a spectacular live show, did just that at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom on April 25th. The band brought along Ireland residents Blood and Whiskey, hardcore newcomers Only Crime, and Bostons drunken masters in Darkbuster.

Blood and Whiskey, being from Ireland, had a very strong Irish accent. So strong that most of their vocals were hard to make out. They featured such native instruments as the tin whistle, accordion, and banjo. Their set was intense, filled with Ois and other interesting noises that I couldnt quite make out. Up next was Only Crime.

This was Only Crimes third show ever, and it was blatantly obvious that they havent had much experience. They sounded like any other hardcore band, nothing stood out in their performance. After the second song, their sound got old and I couldnt wait for them to get off stage. Days after this show, Only Crime inked a deal with Fat Wreck Chords, not worth it in my opinion. Bostons one and only Darkbuster took the stage next to much delight from the crowd.

Darkbuster, in all their drunken glory, hit the stage and got the crowd going. With catchy vocals and buzzing guitars, I was very much into this band. Definitely check them out if they play a show near you. They stopped for a bit to take a swig of beer and talk about how they hate political punk bands. As soon as they finished this statement, they broke out into the crowd-favorite I Hate the Unseen. They played other crowd-pleasers such as Hometown Zero, and Lillith Fair Everyone sang and moshed along. They left the stage, and minutes later, The Foggy Dew blasted over the speakers.

After The Foggy Dew, The Dropkick Murphys took over and opened up with For Boston. The crowd went nuts, mosh pits broke out everywhere and not a single person in the venue was sitting. They followed up with old classics off Do or Die including Caught in a Jar. Everyone put their arms around their neighbor and sang along. The show wouldnt be complete without Stephanie Doherty adding her lovely voice to The Dirty Glass. After this song, they paused and told the crowd about the new karaoke thing they were doing. They would pick one fan out of the crowd and bring them on stage where they would pick any song they wanted and sing it while the band added instrumentals. This particular fan picked On The Attack, and he sang it flawlessly. They played other hits off of Blackout such as Fields of Athenry, Walk Away, Workers Song, and Kiss me, Im Sh*t-Faced. They brought the females on stage, as they always do, to dance to The Spicy McHaggis Jig. As a special surprise, they did a cover of The Pogues, Fairytale of New York. Mark put down the guitar and played piano as Stephanie came out to assist Al with vocals. It was a great cover job. They ended the night like usual with Skinhead on the MBTA. I rushed the stage but was quickly pushed to the back as the crowd flooded the stage. After skinhead, they did some type of instrumental that I havent heard before, but it was cool.

The show was incredible and they never fail to amaze me with their live performance. I got home around 2 AM and managed to be up at 6 AM for school.