The Gobshites Live at Kennedy's Pub, Boston, MA

Friday Night - February 16th, 2007

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?

If truth be told, you can't find a funner - pure craic Paddy Punk band in the Western hemisphere who can probably drink the entire Glasgow Celtic Supporters Drinking Club under the table ;-)

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

The Briggs, Blood or Whiskey, & The Blame

October 17th, 2006 at The Knitting Factory, NY, NY

I was sure to get off of work when I discovered that Blood or Whiskey were playing in my city....Unfortunately, it was out of the hands of the bands playing this show, for which day the show would take place, and that's why the results was a very low turn out (because the show began at 7 PM and on a Tuesday night); for one of the most legendary and kick arse Irish Punk bands in history, the glorious Blood or Whiskey, "Irish punk without all the plastic paddy posing", as one fan called their great music, and when I saw the lads walk into the club I didn't waste anytime telling them how much of a fan I was ...I hung out with the band's new bassist, Ronan, before the show as he told me a liitle about their U.S. Tour, and later briefly talked to accordion player Sean Fallon, banjo player Peter Townsend, and lead singer and guitarist Dugs Mullooly (who wore a cool jacket emblazoned with the proud Basque seperatist flag), before they took the stage with the punk rock ferocity of Joe Strummer meets Shane Mac Gowan...

But before I further discuss the performance of Blood or Whiskey, I wanted to briefly comment on the band from Staten Island who opened up the night, The Blame, with loud and boisterous Punkrock tunes with heavy Rockabilly and Hardcore influence, like "New GeneratIon" , "I'm Not Listening", "Second Chances", "Can't Find A Reason", NYC", "Yesterday, Today", and "Streets of New York", all really good songs with a strong spirit, Johnny C on second guitar and Phil Cadaver on lead vocals and guitar deliver a powerful sonic bombast, channelling all their working class rage into some really amped up and unforgettable music. My only bone of contention is that, even though Johnny C gave me two free CDs to promote on Radio Rebel Gael, none of their tunes are convertible to MP3 format, so I have not been successful with adding them to the Radio Rebel Gael playlist, and after repeated emails to the band (asking if they can send some mp3s to me), being ignored, as a result, it looks like The Blame won't be on the Radio Rebel Gael playlist any time soon.

Finally after some delay and a disappointing turn out, Blood or Whiskey, Dublin's best Punk band, stormed the stage....Playing "La La La" from their debut self-titled album,as well as "Wack the Widdle", "Galway Town", "Keep The Baby", "Drunken Priest of Dingle", "New Banjo Thing", and "Breaking Through", "Sober Again", "Never Be Me", "Your Majesty", "Submission in Portarlington", "Rudy" and "Sometimes" from their second album "No Time To Explain", and three great covers of the traditional Irish folk songs "King of the Faeries", "Mero" and "Follow Me Up To Carlow", from their debut and "No Time To Explain" albums, as well many great tunes from "Cashed Out On Culture", like "No Answers", "Poxy Pub", "Glory O", "Jar'd for Life", and "They Say No!"....Along with the strong performance of lead man Dugs, the band really soars high above the run of the mill, with the powerful banjo playing of 7 feet high Peter Townsend and new bassist, Ronan, who isn't just a great bassist but also a really cool dude and down to earth, lacking any pretention or "rock star attitude".

Afterwards, Los Angeles Punk Hardcore band, Time Again hit the stage and played a good mix of old school sounding tunes, reminiscent of Youth Brigade or older 7 Seconds....

Next, another Los Angeles band, The Briggs, concluded the night with some great punk rock rhythm, that was much older school and not hardcore like Time Again, sounding more like a band in a class of their own, with a good and unique rhythm reminsicent of The Ramones, The Adicts, early Clash and maybe even a little bit of Johnny Thunders meets Elvis Costello....Playing tunes from their "Back To The Higher Ground" debut album, like "Everyone's An Actor", "Wasting Time", "Song of Babylon", "My Own Enemy" and the title track, "Back To Higher Ground", I really thought they were one of the best purely Punk bands that I have heard for some years, with a driving infectious sound that keeps you moving, pogoing your toes off, or slam dancing your arse off. Lead by brothers Jason and Joey Larocca, I predict that this Los Angeles band will become legend if they continue on this unadulterated Punk rock path...Joey Larocca, the lead singer and guitarist is a really cool guy as well, with a good sense of humour, I confess that I was a wee bit plastered when I talked to him, and he was, regardless of my slurred ramblings, a down to earth non-pretentious dude with a cool atttude and not another Blink 182/Green Day plastic pop punk product.....

Check them out at :

http://www.thebriggs.org/

Rory Dubhdara, Radio Rebel Gael