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Dropkick Murphys / Sick of It All / Tiger Army at Birch Hill Nite Club in Old Bridge, NJ 10/7/01

I finally found the well-hidden Birch Hill Night Club, and numerous, long lines were sprouting out of the building.  No one knew what line to be in for tickets, for the guest list, for entry, and the chaos continued on from then.  But I didn't mind because I was finally going to see the Dropkick Murphys for the first time in two years.   

When I walked into the over-stuffed venue, and heard that they had the Ramones Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue playing pre-show, my mood started to improve.  Shortly after that, Tiger Army appeared on stage.  The first thing to notice was that the band had a stand-up bass player in lieu of the typical bass guitar, which is pretty much where their originality ended.  Right as I was thinking, Man, this guys vocals really sound like a bad imitation of Jello Biafras, the lead singer announces, Were Tiger Armyfrom California.  Hmmm, couldve guessed that one.  All in all, Tiger Army was pretty forgettablenot poppy enough to be pop punk, not hard enough to be hardcorejust kind of there.  By the end of their final song, however, they did have the crowd chanting Never Die, in honor of the US forces that had just begun strikes on terrorist camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan earlier that day.  And the nights patriotic theme went on from there. 

After Tiger Army, I was still waiting to be impressed.  Sick Of It All took the stage, and the crowd pretty much went nuts.  Now, I have to admit that Husker Du is usually the extent of my interest in hardcore, but seeing Sick Of It All on stage made me re-think that.  The patriotic theme was carried on as the energized crowd broke into chants of U-S-A at least twice during the performance.   I would have enjoyed the performance a lot more if I hadnt been repeatedly knocked over and clobbered by moshers.  (Note to young punk-rockers:  Going to a show just to mosh makes you just as bad as the kids who go to see boy bands dance in ugly clothesso settle down.  Its about the music, not beating people up.)  Unfortunately, the moshing continued throughout the night despite the peaceful and unified atmosphere that all three bands were trying to create.

But the show got progressively better, as I expected it would.  The Dropkicks always make an entrance, and that night was no exception.  What sounded like a Celtic war hymn was playing, and it stirred the crowd, which broke out into U-S-A! chants once againall of this creating a very surreal atmosphere.  Two large American flags adorned the stage.  Finally, the band emerged and promptly burst into the opening lyrics of For Boston.  The Dropkicks, who from their songs, it seems, tend to scorn corporate America, had nothing but praise for everything American that night. They even went so far as to declare themselves Yankees fans to the Jersey crowd because being from Boston or New York was unimportantbeing American was what mattered right then.  On a similarly ironic note, the band turned Which Side Are You On, a song about the corporation versus the union, into a patriotic song for the nighteveryone was on Americas side.  The Dropkicks dedicated their version of Amazing Grace that night to the victims of the September 11^th attack, and a wild fan came onstage to sing it loud and proud.  I didnt realize until that night just how many of the Dropkicks songs have undertones of war and death.  They sang many of themCurse of a Fallen Soul, Wheel of Misfortune, and Far Away Coast to name a few.  During the final song of the night, the Dropkicks, in typical punk fashion, invited the rowdy crowd onstage, and far too many accepted the invitation.  Of all the shows Ive been to, Ive never seen anything quite like thatthere was literally a pile of people on stage that nearly reached the ceiling of the club.   

Between the music and the nationalism, everyone left the place spirited and energized to chants of United We Stand, Divided We Fall.  Many times, Ive wished I could have been alive to see a punk show in 77, when it actually meant something; this show was definitely the closest Ive come. 

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