DROPKICK MURPHYS STAY TRUE, SMASH THINGS UP AT MULLINS CENTER

As legend has it, long before he became the architect of a rag tag Celtic punk band from Quincy, Ken Casey received a lifetime ban from the UMass Amherst campus.

But nearly 30 years later, at least before security had a chance to drag him out in a pair of plastic zip-tie handcuffs, Casey and the Dropkick Murphys shipped up to ZooMass this past Sunday (October 27) to put an exclamation point on the end of their 2024 fall tour with The Scratch and Pennywise – and even with a less-than-full Mullins Center, the night proceeded as you would imagine any hometown gig helmed by the lovable local legends would.

Hailing from Dublin and kicking things off for the night was The Scratch, an Irish trio comprising of very few instruments and an unwavering amount of power who got things moving early while setting the prime example as to why you should always show up for the earliest openers. Equipped with an intensity that you don’t often see in that slot on any given bill, the band unleashed a 6-pack of folky punk fury by meshing the whimsical mystique of traditional Irish music with a deep appreciation for musical synergy and emotional angst. Fans at the front of the barricade awaiting the swashbuckling energy of the evening’s headliners made it known that they weren’t waiting around to get going on their side of the stage, either, as progressively more fans sang along with each passing song until it was safe to say that the Emerald Isle three-piece had completed the task they were given at the very start of the tour – and Pennywise followed suit as they grabbed the baton and bolted into a ferociously fun and fast-paced set of their own.

THE SCRATCH

PENNYWISE

For as long as Casey and co. have been sticking it to the man, the Hermosa Beach punk legends have been at it even longer. Even after more than 35 years in the game, they still know how to blow the roof off the joint while keeping it as light and fun as ever, as frontman Jim Lindberg chopped it up with the crowd in between fits of screaming lyrics and demanding the pit start moving. The towering and boisterous presence of guitarist Fletcher Dragge only added to the fury and frolic that rumbled from the stacks flanking each side of the stage while bassist Randy Bradbury delivered a thunderous wall of sound of his own, and joining in on the party on more than a few occasions. With long-standing fan favorites like “Peaceful Day” and “F**k Authority,” as well as a smattering of other tracks and covers like Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” and a medley that celebrated Rancid, Ramones, NOFX and The Beastie Boys, the band reminded us why they remain one of those most highly-respected bands still on the grind: they truly don’t give a damn in the best way possible. The stage is their playground, and boy, do they know how to play as hard as they work.

The set would’ve felt admittedly incomplete if they hadn’t turned out another rendition of “Bro Hymn,” but the band saved the best for last, and in the spirit of celebrating the end of a five-week run around the country, they invited their tour mates to the stage to help deliver the final gang vocals, which seemed to echo throughout the entire campus just long enough to sustain before the night’s main event kicked off with a cannon blast of familiar intensity.

Perhaps there was some disappointment in the fact that, by the time the Dropkicks hit the stage around 9 p.m., the barn still remained only half full. But as we’ve seen time and time again, as soon as the lights go out and Sinead O’Connor’s legendarily haunting rendition of “The Foggy Dew” blares through the PA, there could be a crowd of 10 people standing at the stage, and the boys would still come out with a furious force of sound and energy that stretches from Western Massachusetts all the way to Florian Hall – and that’s exactly what they did.

Brandishing a career-spanning, 24-song setlist, Casey and the gang smashed the gate and delivered an unrelenting force that only a hometown show can evoke, while the energy exuded by guitarist James Lynch, bassist Kevin Rheault, and drummer Matt Kelly maintained a gloriously sweaty and active tempo throughout the evening, and the multi-instrumental talents of Jeff DaRosa and Tim Brennan re-introduced fan favorite tracks that brought the band’s diehard followers back in time as often as they kept them in the moment. With 28 years officially under their belt, there isn’t a single track the band could play that the crowd wouldn’t eat up with riotous gluttony, and as they peppered some of the old stuff – “Cadence to Arms,” Boys On The Dock,” “Bastards On Parade,” “Barroom Hero” – in with a generous assortment of newer bangers – “Middle Finger,” “Mick Jones Nicked My Pudding,” and their latest single “Sirens” to name a few – with the same amount of passion and dedication across the board. There was no phoning it in, even as the bleachers toward the back of the arena largely remained uninhabited during the show, and Casey did what he does best in keeping fans in it as he mostly stayed up front at the barricade, passing out high fives, fist bumps and sharing the mic with a joyful generosity that could easily be confirmed by the gleaming smile on his face, and the obvious amount of fun you could tell he was having at the helm from start to finish.

DKM TIM BRENNAN KEVIN RHEAULT

DKM TIM BRENNAN JEFF DAROSA

DKM TIM

Of course, there was the wave of hits like “The Boys Are Back,” “The State of Massachusetts,” “Flannigan’s Ball,” and “Rose Tattoo” that will always remain tenants of the band’s ever-growing setlist without any complaint from their loyal fanbase, but on more than one occasion, Casey took requests from the playfully invasive crowd, which resulted in dusting off songs like “For Boston” and “Pipebomb on Lansdowne,” which further served as a reminder of a band that was once a pack of young faces and shaved heads as opposed to the more polished and heavily bearded punk dads that still know how to kick ass and take names.

DKM TIM

DKM MATT KELLY

DKM KEVIN RHEAULT

DKM KEN

But one thing that remained abundantly clear and steadfast was Casey’s decades-long unwillingness to shut up and sing when it came to sharing his perspective and showing support for the working class, and speaking out against the societal oppression he and his band of brothers have long fought in the trenches to dismantle. That flame was evident in Casey’s words between songs as he reminisced on certain events throughout the band’s career in which they showed up in solidarity of unions on picket lines, and in his pleading to get out and vote in what is largely looked at as the most important election of our lifetime. That flame also lit the torch for a number of somewhat deep cuts in the set like “The Hardest Mile,” “Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya,” and the show’s closer “Worker’s Song.”

DKM KEN

DKM JEFF

No, it wasn’t St. Patrick’s Day and they didn’t play “Tessie” on the 20th anniversary of the Red Sox curse-breaking World Series victory, and yes, they played “I’m Shipping Up To Boston.” Beyond that, though, the Dropkick Murphys showed that even on an unseasonably warm night in October in front of a spotted crowd on parents weekend at UMass Amherst, the boys are indeed back, as if they’ve ever left to begin with and they still want to smash shit up – and not get banned from campus again.