I was visiting Boston for the weekend so I was pleased to discover that local Paddy Punk band, The Gobshites , were playing the night of my arrival. The first thing that impressed me about Boston, after having not visited for a few years, was a giant digital billboard proclaiming in flashing green neon DROPKICK MURPHYS Sold Out , the first thing I saw while entering the city....Likewise, while driving out of the city, upon departure, there was a huge billboard announcing The Wolfe Tones show in Boston on St Patrick's Day....Even if some New York neighborhoods like Woodside, Queens, Woodlawn in the Bronx, or Mac Lean Avenue in Yonkers, may have a larger Irish exile community, no one can deny that Boston has a strong Irish presence and its unlikely that you will see a huge billboard announcing any Irish Rebel or Paddy Punk band while driving into New York...
We rolled into Kennedy's Pub a block away from the Orpheus Theatre (whose headliner marquee announced the event of St. Paddy's Day - The Pogues ) and despite the small turn out (possibly due to the blistering cold) - I really enjoyed The Gobshites , a band whose only aim and motivation is to drink to excess and play some rowdy and boisterous Drunken Paddy Punk Rock. Not your typical "Drunken Paddy Punk" outfit, despite the fact that most of the members, a banjo player (Piet Woodburn), a mandolin player (Ryan Boucher), accordion player (Stephen Feeney), bassist (Rob O'Neill), drummer (Chuck Allen), lead vocalist and guitarist (Pete Depressed), all look like drunken frat boys on a 5 day Pub crawl sprawl, they are complimented with a brilliant fiddler, Betty Widerski, who looks like the band's mother, but has the moxie to play and tour with the lads and who can't give this woman alot of credit for being able to party and play with this drunken band of rogues?
They began the night with a great cover of Sham 69's "Hurry Up Harry", and then played "Let's Get Drunk", Stiff Little Fingers classic "Drinking Again", "Six Pack" by Black Flag (their Irish fiddle, banjo and mandolin version really kicks royal arse),"2 Much 2 Drink" (which is a Rap/Rock rendition of Dee Dee King's original), then they slurred and stumbled into a great cover of Johnny Thunders "Some Hearts", "Guinness Boys", "Pick Me Up", and a brilliant rendition of the Yobs "The Ballad of the Warrington", a cover of "It's A Long Way Back" by the Ramones (this band is so Punk Rock that not only do they do a great Ramones cover but Pete Depressed - head alcoholic and rabble rouser - wore a Ramones t-shirt proudly, and in fact, none other than Tommy Ramone collaborated and jammed live with The Gobshites in the recent past), and their own originals such as "Cheers (Raise A Pint)", "I Only Drink Stout", and "Shane's Dentist" (which will be on their soon to be released second album "Another Round") about none other than Shane MacGowan, a tribute to the legendary Godfather of Paddy Punk, teeth or no teeth - you can't find a more essential founder of all that defines true Paddy Punk than Shane Mac Gowan himself. Proving that The Gobshites know their roots, at this kick arse gig they performed a quantity of Pogues and Shane Mac Gowan classics such as "Streams of Whiskey", "Dark Streets of London", "Dirty Old Town", "Nancy Whiskey" and "That Woman's Got Me Drinking", and old Irish traditional ballad "The Fields of Athenrye"....
Over all, you will never regret catching The Gobshites live - if you are destined for an evening of pure craic and drunken debauchery, Gobshites are the only solution to second that alcoholic motion.....
Rory Dubhdara, Radio Rebel Gael
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