Dropkick Murphy’s / Clutch – Myth – Maplewood MN – October 1st 2019

The Myth presents Dropkick Murphy’s and Clutch.

How often do you have a show that starts with a single acoustic guitar player, and ends with a band featuring bagpipes, and hardcore and blues rock bands in the middle?  Here we are, and it worked! 

Amigo The Devil, or Danny or “Fat Dave Grohl” as he mentioned you could call him from stage, started with night with a short set of darker Tenacious D type songs.  The crowd applauded, but wasn’t entirely sure what to make of him opening. I enjoyed it, and am considering seeing him when he headlines the Skyway Theater next month. 

The set change wasn’t long before Hatebreed came to the stage.  Not initially announced on the bill months ago, the seemed to get the party loud.  A few songs in the crowd was jumping in approval. The Energy was high when they left

Clutch does what Clutch does, and personally, I am a hard core Clutch fan.    Straight ahead, working over the crowd, they mixed in a lot of songs from the “Book of Bad Decisions” album from last year, but also played a couple songs I have not heard before live, including “Rats” finishing out the set.  

Dropkick Murphys were the surprise band for me, but that’s because I hadn’t heard much, only the reputation that it’s a fun show.  I agree 100%! Starting with the first song, dual load vocalists Ken Casey and Al Barr bridged the security gap and joined the crowd to get them to sing along.  The Boston beer hall vibe was strong. There were as many smiles in the crowd and green jerseys and Red Sox hats!

I love seeing a show with a common audience, but not common vibe.  Hopefully something like that comes through again soon!

Review and photos by Brian Curski