‘Tis the season for my annual pilgrimage to the frozen north that is Boston, MA, to meet up with my crew for four days of brutal debauchery on the rail at the Dropkick Murphys’ St. Patty’s Day shows! Each year fans from all around the world descend on the MGM Fenway Park and the House of Blues Boston to see the Dropkick boys play their hometown in true Celtic punk rock style.

Part of my DKM family, fondly referred to as the “Iron Curtain”, on the rail for the opening night of the St. Patrick’s Day shows. photo by kim moenich

In years past, the four day lineup stayed pretty consistent, with maybe an opening act changing here and there. But this year’s lineup was all over the place, with new acts like (my faves) The Kilograms and Cody Nilsen opening up different nights, and veterans like The Menzingers and Bouncing Souls riling the crowd up before DKM took stage.

Joe Gittleman (of Mighty Mighty Bosstones fame) and Michael McDermott (formerly of Bouncing Souls and now with Joan Jett) open the Friday night show with their killer new band, The Kilograms. photo by kim moenich

The Menzingers getting the crowd riled up at the Friday night show. photo by kim moenich

Opening day on Friday included a pre-show for any Massachusetts Union worker, a tradition that DKM has long held, to honor the working class they grew up in. Over a thousand tickets were sold for this sound check show, with the proceeds all going to the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, and the boys brought the energy. They played a new song or two, along with their classics, to a rowdy mixed crowd, many of whom told me they had no idea who the band was! But Ken Casey made sure that the audience knew how much the band loved and appreciated the Unions, and everyone went wild!

The Union crowd with DKM for the Friday pre-show. (They asked me last minute to shoot this with NO FLASH and only the stage lights! Please forgive me, Union friends!) photo by kim moenich

The Kilograms opened night one with a banger of a set that included their newly released songs “Lorelai” and “Battles”. Most of my friends had never heard the band, and I was so excited for them to get see Joe, Sammy, McDermott, J, and Craig, rock their faces off! And man, they did NOT disappoint! After the set everyone was blown away with the talent and sound coming from the stage. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, if you haven’t checked out The Kilograms DO IT NOW!

Sammy Kay, of The Kilograms, opening the weekend for DKM. photo by kim moenich

The Kilograms rocking the house on night one of the St. Patrick’s Day shows. photo by kim moenich

The man, the myth, the legend, McDermott. photo by kim moenich

Next up for both Friday and Saturday nights were Scranton’s finest, The Menzingers. They had been out on tour with DKM for the last few months, and had this show locked down. They, too, played two rippers Friday and Saturday nights that saw a ton of people coming to the rail for their singalong anthems. There are few bands that I can both bop my head too and mosh with at the same time, and The Menzingers manage to pull it off. I saw more than one punk rock vixen shed a tear during their sets!

One of the most fun people to photograph in punk rock, Tom May of The Menzingers. photo by kim moenich

Finally got a photo of this guy, Greg Barnett of The Menzingers. photo by kim moenich

My absolute favorite part of Friday (and perhaps the whole weekend) was Ken introducing “Worker’s Song” by giving a short speech about how the band will continue to stand on the right side of history against “billionaire oligarch cun_s”. He then completely freaked out after remembering that longtime family friend, Sister M, was in the audience, and began asking for rosary beads!

Saturday started with the afternoon acoustic set fundraiser for DKM’s charity, Claddagh Fund, where parents are encouraged to bring their kiddos for a special set (which isn’t to say that plenty of non-childbearing fans weren’t also present!) It was awesome to see so many mini-mohawks and watch the faces of single-digit fans light up when Ken sang to them!

A beautiful hand-painted guitar for donation for the Claddagh Fund, displayed by Gorgeous George! photo by kim moenich

Teenage Bottlerocket were the Saturday night openers, finishing up their tour with The Menzingers and DKM. Ray and the guys brought the house down with a killer set of classics that had the pit going from the start (much to mine and Security’s chagrin!) Again, many in the audience weren’t familiar with the band, but Bottlerocket made sure to give them a performance they wouldn’t soon forget!

Ray Carlisle, of Teenage Bottlerocket caught air as the band and the fans watched in awe! photo by kim moenich

Miguel Chen, of Teenage Bottlerocket made sure we were never bored. photo by kim moenich

Saturday held a few amazing moments during the Dropkicks’ set. Again during “Worker’s Song”, Ken had longtime band favorite Joey (who I finally got to meet in person after a couple of years of following each other on IG) onstage to sing. Joey is truly the band’s biggest fan and you could see the excitement all over his face as he belted out the lyrics with Ken by his side.

My new friend, Joey, singing along with his favorite band! photo by kim moenich

Earlier in the set, Ken addressed a situation with a fan in the crowd who had been trying to get the band’s attention the entire time. “I admire your dedication,” Ken said, “but I want to ask everyone. If you’re in a room full of people and you want to know who’s in a cult, how do you know who’s in the cult? They’ve been holding up a f_cking hat the whole night to represent a President!” Casey then shouted, “This is AMERICA. There are NO KINGS HERE!” and the crowd went crazy. Ken then went on to say that the band was about to sing a song about their grandparents who “fought Nazi’s in the war and shit, so if you could just shut the fu_k up for a few minutes”, before launching into their new song, “Sirens”, off their upcoming album which should be released this summer. Casey later offered to give the man a signed Claddagh Fund hat in exchange for the WHITE MAGA hat the dude was wearing.

Sunday night, local band Rebuilder opened the show. I had forgotten how much I liked these guys, and the crowd went nuts for them. They’re definitely a band I should listen to more often, and I’m honestly surprised I don’t see them around more. If you’re a fan of The Menzingers, or any post 2000’s more melodic punk, I suggest you check them out.

Rebuilder had their hometown crowd screaming. photo by kim moenich

Saw these guys last year at NOFX’s Final Tour show in Brockton, MA. So much fun! photo by kim moenich

Longtime DKM guitar tech, Cody Nilsen, has branched out on his musical career, and I’ve been seeing his name pop-up on some pretty big shows. None of us were sure what he was about, but his fun blend of punk, rock, and what I deemed rockabilly, had us all dancing along. Shoutout especially to his drummer, who was so good that I couldn’t look away! Cody’s voice was gorgeous, and he got us riled up for an amazingly fun Monday night.

I think you’ll see this dude popping up a lot on lineups in 2025. photo by kim moenich

There are a few shows in my life (of the hundreds and hundreds I’ve seen) where I can honestly say the lineup was absolutely perfect, the set lists were exactly what I wanted, and the performances nearly left me in tears. That was what happened next on both Sunday and Monday. If you follow my Instagram, you could probably guess who my top three most seen bands are, and by some grace of St. Patrick, they all decided to play together in Boston this weekend. Hot Water Music started off with a short, but perfect set. They played 4 songs off the new album, Vows. That album (along with History Books by Gaslight Anthem and the Seaside Caves albums) has been playing on repeat in my car since it came out. And of course they played “Remedy” and “Trusty Chords”, two songs that I still listen to daily. Chuck and the band poured their hearts out on that stage both nights, and we were here for it.

No one’s voice moves me the way this man’s does. Chuck Ragan, ladies and gents. photo by kim moenich

Chris Cresswell giving us all he’s got on night 3 of the DKM St. Patrick’s Day shows at MGM Music Hall Fenway. photo by kim moenich

Next up the last two nights were longtime DKM buddies, Bouncing Souls. Surprisingly, the band pulled out some deep cuts that I hadn’t heard in years, except for at the Home For the Holidays shows, but the audience was loving it. Greg was jumping all over the stage, as poor George killed it playing back-to-back sets two nights in a row! Everyone was singing along and having the time of their lives. Like Pennywise last year, Bouncing Souls were the perfect choice to get the crowd riled up before DKM took the stage.

Good to see Greg’s ankle all healed after his brutal soccer accident (haha!) photo by kim moenich

Might be the only decent photo I’ve ever gotten of the incredible Pete Steinkopf. Follow his IG so you can see all how he’s currently shaping the face of punk rock music as we know it! photo by kim moenich

Anybody else think this dude is like the best bassist in punk?! Or at least the most fun to watch?! photo by kim moenich

Can we just take a minute to praise the beast that is George Rebelo? This dude played 5 sets at Fest last year and 4 sets this weekend. He played back to back sets two nights in a row and absolutely destroyed it! Rock on! photo by kim moenich

All I can say about this year’s shows was at least I didn’t get my sternum cracked on the rail like last year! The MGM and HOB staff were incredible (shout out to Kyle and Patrick- always my faves!) Every member of every band left their hearts and souls on that stage, and there was even an onstage marriage proposal! We got to spend some time at the after party with Ken where he thanked our crew for always being there. The Sunday night set was full of OLD songs, some of which he hadn’t sang in years. He thanked us for always helping him fill in the gaps when he needs to catch his breath during some of the older, faster songs. And we let him know that we would always be there for the band, standing on the rail, screaming along.

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