The Dropkick Murphys are a Celtic Punk band from Boston. Their music combines Punk Rock with traditional Celtic influences. Their most well known song is probably “I’m Shipping Up To Boston.” They have immense Irish pride, hence the St. Patrick’s Day show in MA every year. This makes these concerts even more ridiculous. Generally, Dropkick Murphy fans fall into one of three categories: crazy, moderately crazy, or tame. The crazy fans congregate close to the stage. They form mosh pits where they run into each other at full force with arms akimbo and heads banging. Although moshers are often criticized for being violent, no one is actually trying to hurt anyone else in the pit. The moderately crazy fans are found just behind the crazy ones and form a less intense mosh pit. This mosh pit still involves people jostling each other, but generally the goal is skanking (a form of dance) not contact. Fans from both of these groups participate in crowd surfing. I would categorize myself as a moderately crazy fan. The tame fans are the ones who stand farthest from the stage and bounce up and down or dance in place to the music.

This year’s St. Patrick’s Day show did not fit with my previous experiences. First of all, the various brands of crazy were significantly overshadowed by the tame fans. A small mosh pit of crazy fans formed right in front of the stage, but there weren’t enough moderate crazies for us to sustain even a small mosh pit. The vast majority of the fans were standing in place and at particularly exciting parts of the show, jumping up and down. I attributed this change to the time of day and the fact that a lot of fans seemed to bring their kids. I was disappointed by the lack of moshing, but the Dropkick Murphys put on such a good show that in the end it didn’t matter.

Not only do I love the Dropkick Murphys’ music, their performances are more over the top and engaging than many of the concerts I have seen. For instance, a few of their songs were accompanied by the Irish Step-dancing of Ken Casey’s daughter and other girls from the Forbes School of Irish Dance. During the song “Warrior’s Code,” which is an ode to the boxer Mickey Ward, two boxers practiced throwing punches on stage while the band played in the background. The Dropkick Murphys also encourage audience participation more than any other band. During “Kiss Me, I’m Shitfaced,” 90% of the girls in the audience crowd surfed onto the stage and proceeded to sing along and dance with the band. During the following song, the guys in the audience began to crowd surf up to the stage until it couldn’t hold anyone else. The Dropkick Murphys play great, invigorating music and if you want an unforgettable concert experience you should definitely check them out. Dropkick never disappoints!

After going to the show, I have to admit that everything I thought about video game music was wrong. My judgments were unfair and I owe the fans of this music an apology. For me, the concert was as impressive as seeing the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra and choir were completely in sync and every note was flawless. Even though I haven’t played the games, the performers succeeded in portraying the emotions that were so strongly engrained in both the story of the games and the pieces themselves. One of my favorite songs was “Dancing Mad,” an 11 minute piece that was unbelievably epic. The organ is the centerpiece of this song and it gives the piece a powerful and frightening feel. An exciting moment in the concert was during the encore when Masashi Hamauzu, who composed the music from Final Fantasy XIII, joined the choir for the song “One Winged Angel.”

The only criticism I had of this performance was that while the performance was happening, cut scenes from the game appeared on a giant screen behind the musicians. For fans of the game, this was exciting because it reminded them of the significance of that song in the story. Personally I found it annoying. The video made it difficult for me to focus on the music and because I haven’t played the games, the images on the screen made no sense to me. Only when I closed my eyes and listened free of distraction was I able to fully appreciate the beauty of what I was hearing.