WFNX Disorientation (with Flogging Molly et al.)

I no longer have a large enough workload to require enough procrastination to write massive and thorough concert reviews. But I should at least make note of them, especially when they're as awesome as last Saturday night was. I was very happy Matt enjoyed himself, because I honestly didn't know if he would. Together we critiqued fashion, mocked drunkenness, and enjoyed some very fine music under one roof.

The first act, annoyingly-named Does It Offend You, Yeah?, failed to impress. I think they hurt Matt's eardrums with their screechy, effect-laden electro-rock, and the tent acoustics didn't help them much. Most of the crowd seemed to agree, using the first hour to buy overpriced hamburgers, snap photos of the skyline over the harbor, and get properly sloshed for the big acts. Next up were Anberlin, filling in for Rogue Wave who were absent due to injury. The sound was not especially friendly to Anberlin either, but it was clear that for all the band's musical blandness, the singer is talented on a level above many of their emoternative peers. Subsequent research informed me they sprang originally from the Christian scene. Who knew. I'd still probably rather have seen Rogue Wave in the end, but it was pleasant.

After a break, the real show got started. The sun had begun to set, the seats had begun to fill, and the BAC had begunto skyrocket: it was time for Alkaline Trio. I was probably as excited to see them as I was to see headliners Flogging Molly. The decade-old trio is (are?) one of the best of their kind, and their early '00s stuff rarely leaves my CD player. I'm not a huge fan of their newest album, which, though listenable, just lacks punch, and thankfully they played about 50% older material, including some among my very favorites "Emma," "This Could Be Love," "Private Eye," and the moving finale "Radio." They also gave a live fire to the newer songs. Matt Skiba talked a lot to us and got an anti-McCain jab in when introducing "Warbrain." They made a lot of tight noise for three guys, and did not let up their pace for a minute . Even though they were technically openers, the show did not shortchange them on set time.

The Kooks, nearly overnight Britpop sensations, were next up, and the shift in fanbase was obvious. The Trio fans had been enthusiastic but serious, containing a large number of twentysomething men. When the Kooks hit the stage, a battle cry rose from the crowd: the unmistakable screams of teen girls. Hoo boy. But fangirls do not always reflect poorly on a band's talent (see Exhibit A: The Beatles), and the Kooks put on a great show. Although it was impossible to understand what the singer was saying in his chatty interludes, his singing was adept and versatile even as he bounded around the stage. In his manner and style he recalled a young Mick Jagger, and the music likewise sent out tendrils of nostalgia for an earlier time in rock. Matt liked the Kooks best of any band that evening, which doesn't surprise me.

Finally, finally, Flogging Molly took the stage. The famous six-piece slice of Celtic pride was a real powerhouse live, as expected, and both their punky raucousness and their virtuostic musicianship were even more apparent. Singer Dave King waxed foul-mouthed and adorable. "I'm not wearing this red tie so as to look like a Republican," he assured us. "I'm wearing it for your f***ing Boston Red Sox!" His love for his wife, who plays the fiddle and the flute in the band, was palpable from the stage, as was his fondness for Boston, cesspool of recovering Irish Catholics. Mixing older songs like "Black Friday Rule" and "Selfish Man" with tracks like "Paddy's Lament" and "Requiem for a Dying Song" off their new disk Float, recorded in Ireland, the band showcased its awesome consistency across the decade. The title track was a highlight, as were the strong selections from Drunken Lullabies (my favorite): "Rebels of the Sacred Heart," "What's Left of the Flag," and "If I Ever Leave This World Alive." The crowd, more physically imposing than the typical audience at one of my shows, was having a grand old time. The ushers tried in vain to preven drunken middle-aged men from dancing in the aisles like hobbits at an eleventy-first birthday party. It was pretty awesome. I felt Irish.