Finally… finally I was going to my first Flogging Molly show. Well, first full show anyways. I think I might have seen a song or two at their Bonnaroo 2012 performance but honestly, I can’t recall a vivid memory of that. I don’t know how I ended up going this long in my concert career without seeing them live (and being able to remember it). The opportunities have been there but the stars just were never in alignment. On Friday, April 29, 2016, the stars finally aligned above the massive rain and thunderstorms that were descending upon the Orlando area, but nothing was going to stop me from getting on down to House of Blues for a post-St. Patrick’s Day celebration with the one and only Flogging Molly.
This was one of three Florida shows the band would be playing on this leg of the tour. The night before, they were at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg and after the Orlando show were heading to West Palm Beach to play SunFest. I walked up to the House of Blues doors along the sidewalk which had recently been drenched by a monsoon of rain. I arrived early to catch the opening band, Askultura, but as luck would have it, there were issues at the box office which took a little longer to figure out than I would have liked to, so naturally I missed the opening act. Oh wells, maybe next time!
I eventually made my way through the doors during set break. You know you’re at a Flogging Molly show when upon entering the venue you see scattered Guinness cans everywhere. This would be a recurring theme throughout the night. I secured myself a spot right behind the soundboard for the first few songs of the show. An old irish folk song played over the speakers as the band came on stage before exploding into “Paddy’s Lament,” wasting no time getting the crowd on the floor to turn into a swarming ocean of bodies. They continued into “Another Bag of Bricks” before turning things up to maximum capacity for the ever so popular anthem “Drunken Lullabies.” After that, I upgraded my spot and mosied upstars onto the balcony to get the bird’s eye view. Up there, I made friends with a random stranger who informed me that singer/guitarist Dave King used to be in band before Flogging Molly. Apparently he was in the band Fastway, a British rock band formed by guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke (formerly of Motörhead) and bassist Pete Way, formerly of UFO. Also in the band was drummer Jerry Shirley of Humble Pie.
There was one hooligan in the front of the crowd sporting an Orlando City Soccer flag which the band eventually acknowledged at some point during the show, embracing the shared love for soccer, or futbol hahaa. There was a guy in the crowd that kept crowd surfing his way from the middle of the floor and getting tossed over front rail. After the third time, singer/guitarist Dave King acknowledged this lad during the song and said, “You again?” Then a song or two later, he pointed to this crowd surfer and yelled into the mic, “Again? That’s the fourth fuckin time!” Or at least that’s what it sounded like through all the Irish.
Song by song, from fast to slow, from coherent singalongs to questionable mumblings, the crowd was right there with the band as they powered through a 20+ song set. A few of my personal favorites in the middle of the set were “Saints and Sinners,” Revolution,” and “Salty Dog.” But the highlight of it all to cap off an lovely drunken evening was the encore which included “Tobacco Island” followed by the inspiring and uplifting “If I ever Leave This World Alive.” I got chills during that last song as the crowd sang in harmonious unison. And if that all weren’t enough, the outro was the hilarious tune by Monty Python “Always Look On the Bright Side of Life” and it provided the perfect soundtrack for the band and crew to dance and wave goodbye as they walked off stage as fellow concert goers smiled, laughed and recounted what was just witnessed. Thanks for coming to Orlando again!
Check out this highlight video, thanks to The Sober Goat!
SETLIST:
Intro-An Irish folk song sung by Bridget Regan
Paddy’s Lament
Another Bag of Bricks
Drunkin Lullabies
The Hand of John L. Sullivan
Whistles the Wind
The Killburn High Road
Life In a Tenement Square
Saints & Sinners
Requiem for a Dying Song
The Wanderlust
So Sail On
The Spoken Wheel
Black Friday Rule
Revolution
Guns of Jericho
Devil’s Dance Floor
Salty Dog
Float
The Seven Deadly Sins
What’s Left of the Flag
ENCORE:
Tobacco Island
If I Ever Leave This World Alive
Outro: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Monty Python song)
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Flogging Molly Live Review by Richie Williams, Photos by Jenn Ross, words edited by Matthew Weller.
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- The Commission Beer Chamber
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- Nora's Sugar Shack!
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