The Rock Tribune

Stage AE – 3/8/2014 – Pittsburgh PA

It was the season for Dropkick Murphy’s St. Patrick’s Day tour (first two weeks in March) and this year consisted of more than the Murphy’s them self.  Along with the Murphy’s were two opening acts by the names of Skinny Lister and Lucero, whom both are very amazing live and on record.  If punk rock and rock n’ roll, bag pipes, and are a few cold ones appease you, then this is a show you better not miss… and here’s why:

March 8^th was yet another night where the city of Pittsburgh was crippled by more snow and frigid gusts of wind, but that didn’t stop everyone from venturing out to Stage AE for an exciting evening filled with friends, booze, and a power packed stage performance… and that was just the first band.  Skinny Lister proved that they deserved to be on this tour and gave Dropkick a run for their money as best performance by the end of the evening. They came out with bottle necks down, but not just normal bottles, they were drinking straight from their growlers preparing for one hell of a party.  Skinny Lister never once let the energy slip from them, especially because their hit songs “John Kanaka” and “Merry Old Dance” kept up the pace and had the crowd doing some distorted version of an Irish Jig.  Next was Lucero, a band who doesn’t quite have the Irish Punk Rock sound like DKM, but has a very unique rock and roll sound that shows some Irish influence. And like everyone else there, they have a love for an ice cold beer.  Within their set was some awesome rock n’ roll riffs coming from their popular songs “My Best Girl” and “Sweet Little Thing,” combined with a little bit of storytelling which added a different degree of entertainment no one was expecting.  After a few hours of quality entertainment from Skinny Lister and Lucero came the beer, kilts, and bag pipes everyone came to see from the Dropkick Murphy’s. DKM came out on stage and opened up with a new song, that was fitting for their return to Pittsburgh, titled “The Boys are Back.” From start to finish the whole show was completely crazy with everybody singing along to their favorite songs to people crowd surfing, even a man who had to of been near his early 60’s crowd surfing with what we assumed to be his grandson (that’s the sign of a true fan).  As the night went on the energy never once died down and the fans were so excited by the end of the show that they rushed the stage and climbed up and sang “Kiss Me I’m Sh**faced.  If you have yet to see the Dropkick Murphy’s perform (especially around St. Patrick’s Day), we highly recommend that you do whatever it takes to see them as soon as…no chance you’ll regret it.

Logan Rendulic, The Rock Tribune © 2014

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