The Briggs, an oi-influenced punk band from California opened with a manically energetic set that lasted about 45 minutes. Their sound is gritty but not to the point where it’s painful to listen to (like certain colorful-haired bands I won’t mention) and full of “whoas”—great for still singing along to when you don’t know the words. They talked to the audience a little to thank them, and get rounds of applause for the Street Dogs and Flogging Molly. Lead singer Joey LaRocca also gave a brief and much appreciated political speech: "You guys all know about the Punk Voter thing, right? Yeah, well I want you to vote for whoever the fuck you want you, for your own fucking reasons. Vote for Bush, vote for Kerry, just vote for whoever the fuck you want to, and do it for your own reasons, not because the punks say to." Thank you, Joey. It could not have been said better. Overall, the band put on a great show and clearly won over the audience—people flocked to their merch booth when the show was over.

The slightly more melodic Street Dogs came on next. Guitarist Markus Hollar played some of the catchiest riffs physically possible, but the guitar could have been turned down a bit—it completely drowned out the bass. The band started off a bit slow, but by the end of the set they equaled—if not surpassed—the Briggs in energy. Lyrically they’re excellent, although as usual I couldn’t make out what was being said (I cheated and looked them up online later.) They also played two covers - The Clash’s “Career Opportunities” and Rancid’s “The War’s End”, both very well.

Flogging Molly finally came on a little past eleven, opening with a rendition of Bob Marley’s classic “Redemption Song”, followed by the band’s own “Drunken Lullabies.” Dave King’s voice is much higher pitched live than in the studio, which is not really a good or bad thing. Because the band consists of seven people (each with instruments), there wasn’t space to jump around, but the energy of the music and the energy of the crowd made up for it by far. The theme here was celebration (guitarist Dennis Casey recently found out he was going to be a father) and that’s exactly how it felt. The entire band played excellently, although bassist Nathan Maxwell was drunk by the end of the set. Set list included the before mentioned “Redemption Song” and “Drunken Lullabies”, as well as “Light of a Fading Star”, “To Youth (My Sweet Roisin Dubh)”, “Rebels of the Sacred Heart”, “Death Valley Queen”, an encore of “What’s Left of the Flag” and a slew of others.

"This song is about my ex-girlfriend. Her middle name is Satan, but my middle name is Fuckface, so I don't know what that means..." - Dave King

Overall a great show. All three bands had great energy and charisma, and a tight sound. I suggest you hurry up and get tickets for this tour.

Review by: Lyndie