Flogging Molly have an awful lot on their side. In their chosen mode of address (the compelling odd couple pairing of punk rock and Irish traditional music), the Celtic Californian outfit have an immediacy that defies you not to dance.
And in their lead singer Dave King they have a showman more than equipped to whip any crowd into a frenzy. However having grown up in Beggars Bush on Dublin’s southside King is completely in his element on the Irish leg of the Eastpak Antidote Tour. This really was a gig best experienced in the thick of the crowd, as songs like ‘Tobacco Island’ and the blisteringly paced banjo driven ‘Drunken Lullabies’ aptly demonstrated.
I will not forget the impressive sight of a delighted wheelchair user crowd surfing (wheelchair included) above my head for a long while, and yet somehow such a feat didn’t seem that exceptional. Perhaps that’s because when Flogging Molly’s seven members are firing on all cylinders they burn up the stage and provoke the crowd into catching alight also, with spontaneous Irish dancing erupting all over the arena floor in time to the driving punk guitar riffs.
The set felt at its strongest when they kept the traditional Irish influence centre stage, with forays into more straight rock feeling flat and dispassionate by comparison.‘Whistles the Wind’ and ‘Devils Dance Floor’ paid homage to the band's traditional Irish influences. Both songs are testament to the bands musical versatility, the former being a true Irish ballad inspired number, delivered in soaring style while the latter displays both Bridget Regan’s adept tin whistle playing and King’s evoking of the sean nós singing style.
Flogging Molly provide an excellent reminder of the energetic legacy of Irish rebel music. But the real treat is witnessing how they harness that energy to deliver an exhilarating live performance.
