Dropkick Murphys at The Anthem

I have been to the Wharf's new concert venue The Anthem before (read that blog post here), and I was excited to go back. We first had dinner at Mi Vida, which is an amazing new Mexican restaurant down there (definitely make a reservation before you go!). Then we wandered around a bit; it was fun seeing all of the new businesses in that area and walking on the pier to look out onto the water. Then it was time for the concert!

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Bim Skala Bim was the first opener. I had never heard of the band before, but they've been around since the 1990's. There style is definitely classic ska.* Their trombone player is amazing! He was the best part of their show. The group members are getting a little older, and you could see the main singer slowing down as the group went through their set. I bet those guys were very excited to be playing in such a big, new venue at this point in their careers!

You can listen to two of their full albums on YouTube (here and here). 

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Agnostic Front was next, and they were punk rock rather than ska. The guys are a little scary (as you can see from the photo above), but they actually were the ones to help get Dropkick Murphys on the map. So now the latter band is returning the favor with this tour!

Here are some of their songs:

For My Family (I liked that the group dedicated this one to our troops.)

Never Walk Alone

Old New York

Blitzkrieg Bop (I loved that they ended their set with an homage to the Ramones!)

The main act was Dropkick Murphys. I knew their music was rock-and-roll that was inspired by the Irish (hence the name of the band); I'm pretty sure my ex from college was into them, but I had never really heard any of their stuff before. I really liked their music! We left a bit early because we didn't want to be anywhere near the venue once 6,000 people were leaving to go home! But what I heard was really good.

Here's a taste of some of their songs:

I'm Shipping up to Boston

Going out of Style

Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya

Blood (The music video played in the background as the band performed this song.)

*I was originally supposed to go to this concert with a friend who loves ska, but we have sadly had a falling out. Since the first band was clearly ska, I was very nostalgic for this friend, and I was surprised how hard the music hit me because of that! I ended up going with someone else, and I actually saw that guy's ex-wife in the crowd while we were there! I didn't say anything because I thought an interaction between the two would be awkward, but it was awkward enough that I saw her. Good thing I saw her instead of him! That would have really killed the night out...