OK, so the Dropkick Murphys are not necessarily motorcycle-related but they ARE St. Patrick’s Day appropriate and another Boston treasure for me to share with you guys.
The DMs started off as an Irish-punk band about 14 years ago (in my hometown Quincy, MA), playing small hole in the wall clubs in and outside of Boston. With constant touring they built up a core audience and started their unique tradition of playing a week-long string of St. Patrick’s Day shows, complete with bagpipes and Irish step dancers, which for the past 10 years have been the most popular tickets in town.
Dropkick Murphys
They gained a larger audience in Boston when in 2004 they re-recorded an old Boston Red Sox song called “Tessie,” which happened to be the same year the Red Sox won the world series for the first time in 86 years. Then you couldn’t go to a DMs show without it being an asshole convention…I mean, being filled with loving sportsfans waiting to hear that song.
In 2006 the Dropkicks gained national attention when the gritty, Irish-mob movie The Departed, directed by Martin Scorcese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, used the song “I‘m Shipping Up to Boston” on the soundtrack. And tying it back to the Red Sox, that song became the walk-out song of Red Sox closing pitcher Jonathan Papelbon, who would dance an Irish jig to the song several times throughout the 2007 Red Sox Championship season. During the team’s victory parade through Boston, Papelbon did the jig while the Murphys played the song on the same float.
So, there’s your little history lesson about the Dropkick Murphys. Now enjoy this song, “The Dirty Glass”.