Photos and Review by Tom Bogus
Galleries: Flogging Molly, Anti-Flag
Flogging Molly ended their “Life is Good” tour at The Palladium in Worcester, Mass. on November 5th 2017. Supporting acts on this tour were punk rock band Anti-Flag and Solo artist Jon Snodgrass. The night started off with a Jon Snodgrass, but unfortunately I missed his set, but I was in time to catch Anti-Flag.
Anti-Flag started their energetic set off with “The Press Corpse” from their 2008 release “For Blood and Empire.” The crowd started moving and the circle pits began. They pounded through song after song, playing some crowd favorites like “1 Trillion Dollars,” “This is the End(for you my friend),” “Turncoat” and a newer song “American Attraction” from their newest release “American Fall.” I was impressed with their slightly sped up version of The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” They closed their set with “Brandenburg Gate”, but stopped halfway through the song to move most of the drum kit over the barrier and into the crowd. Once the kit was quickly set up, drummer Pat Thetic and bassist/singer Chris #2 resumed playing the song and singing while in the middle of the crowd. That sure is one way to end a set.
While the crowd is still hot, the 7 piece Celtic punk rockers Flogging Molly take to the stage, opening with “The Hand of John L. Sullivan.” After the first couple of words of the intro, you could hear the crowd singing along. Once the whole band kicked in, lead singer Dave King ran all over the stage playing his acoustic guitar with a vengeance. Bassist Nathen Maxwell, guitarist Dennis Casey, mandolin/banjo player Bob Schmidt, accordion player Matt Hensley and drummer Mike Alonso were full of energy and were enjoying every minute on stage. Violinist Bridget Regan unfortunately was sitting in a chair and had a cast on her left foot, but she was in great spirits. Flogging Molly carried on with their set playing “Swagger,” “Selfish Man,” and “Drunken Lullabies” from their older releases. They then played “The Days We’ve Yet to Meet” and “Life is Good” from Their newest release “Life is Good”. Each song played was a sing along and the crowd new the words. They played a few more songs and closed the night out with “The Seven Deadly Sins”. Of course they came back out and played two encore songs “crushed (Host Nation)” and “Salty Dog”.
This was my first time seeing “Flogging Molly” and I will definitely see them again. Their music is happy and uplifting.
Flogging Molly Setlist
- The Hand of John L. Sullivan
- Swagger
- Selfish Man
- Drunken Lullabies
- The Days We’ve Yet to Meet
- Requiem for a Dying Song
- Saints & Sinners
- Life in a Tenement Square
- Float
- Tobacco Island
- Life is Good
- Rebels of the Sacred Heart
- Devil’s Dance Floor
- If I Ever Leave This World Alive
- What’s Left of the Flag
- The Seven Deadly Sins
Encore:
- Crushed (Hostile Nations)
- Salty Dog