Boston’s Ship Finally Docks in Our Harbor (2012)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Venue: Kino Šiška / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: June 5, 2012
Attendance: 900
Ticket price: €29.00 / €33.00

Who would have thought at the start of the year that we were in for such a packed June? While one of the few Slovenes we can truly be proud of right now, Anže Kopitar, is out there with a whole army of Kings in the Stanley Cup Final, teaching those little devils from New Jersey a lesson, the popular Boston party animals and neighbors Dropkick Murphys have finally sailed in to visit us. Sure, Boston is some 200-250 miles from New Jersey, but by American standards, we can say Boston and New Jersey are next-door neighbors.

After sixteen years together, the seven-piece crew of American musicians with Irish and Scottish roots, who play traditional Irish tunes spiked with rock and punk rhythms, are finally showing up closer to home more often. We first caught them in Zagreb (you can read the report HERE), and now, as part of the new Summer Tour 2012, they set out to properly shake up Ljubljana’s Kino Šiška for the first time. And to our great delight, with a headline show of their own, since on this tour they mostly play European rock festivals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBV7Wu3ggX8

The evening kicked off at a quarter to nine in an almost empty hall with The Parkington Sisters, or rather sisters Rose, Nora, Sarah and Ariel Parkington. They come from Massachusetts and also play traditional Irish music with a dash of American country. Rose is also known as a dedicated volunteer and fundraiser for sick children in the Boston area. In a show of solidarity, and as a thank-you for the donations, she shaved her head in front of a crowd of a hundred thousand at Rock Am Ring in Nuremberg a few days ago. The sisters were adopted by their longtime friends the Murphys and taken along on tour. Why became clear pretty quickly. The girls are charming to look at, and on top of that they handle several different instruments really well, with violins dominating. The slightly shy start turned into a damn good build-up, because the hall filled up surprisingly fast. It was impossible to ignore these pretty young women, who also surprised everyone with some interesting vocal harmonies. They’re something special. No wonder the crowd of fired-up guys (plenty of them in Scottish kilts) rushed to cool off with beer in front of the stage. For one of the songs, Dropkick Murphys bassist Ken Casey joined them on stage, and they spiced up their set more than brilliantly with a cover of Ring Of Fire, the Johnny Cash classic. It doesn’t happen often that the crowd cheers “We want more!” for a support act after its set. The first in a string of surprises, as it turned out later…

After ever-louder battle cries from the party-hungry crowd in front of the stage »Let’s Go Murphys, Let’s Go Murphys« traditional Irish music, backed by live female vocals, rang out from the still-covered stage at almost exactly 10 p.m. Memories of the ships of impoverished, desperate Irish and Scottish ancestors sailing toward the promised land at the start of the last century. The spirit of the forefathers, full of longing and hope for new beginnings. To me, at least, it felt like an incredibly beautiful tribute to the ancestors and their tradition.

When the curtain went up, a new surprise was waiting for us. The Parkington Sisters had simply stayed on stage, and the members of Dropkick Murphys joined them. At that moment it was probably crystal clear to everyone in the hall that an unforgettable, sweaty, party-hearty night was on the way. They opened with the punchy ‘Hang ‘Em High’ from their latest album Going Out In Style. Hard-hitting, full throttle and totally in their style, with banjo and bagpipes blazing. Then, with no break, they strung together a kind of medley of hits from different albums, like ‘The Gang’s All Here’, ‘Bastards On Parade’, ‘Going Out In Style’. The first real peak of the night came with the traditional Irish tune ‘The Irish Rover’. The crowd finally let go. The mostly young crowd in front of the stage deserves special praise, too, because they were in really great spirits this time.

The next surprise was a set of three songs the Murphys played acoustically: ‘The Warrior’s Code’ (from the movie The Fighter), which turned out to be well known here, since the crowd knew it by heart, ‘Take ‘Em Down’ and Boys On the Docks. On ‘The Dirty Glass’ Nora joined in on vocals. They wrapped up the official part of the show with the next peak, ‘I’m Shipping Up to Boston’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0KpMQHt0ic

The great party mood was palpable throughout, both on stage and below it. The Murphys played with their full lineup this time (the Zagreb show went ahead without singer Al Barr due to health problems) and they were in good shape, too, since this was only their third gig out of twenty-three on a grueling month-long tour. Al is more than a mandatory member of the band: as a frontman he has plenty of charisma, backed by real vocal firepower, and he got the crowd on its feet with ease. They were eating out of his hand and ready to party from start to finish. A crowd of more than seven hundred, mostly dewy-eyed young folks, which is really yet another surprise. A crowd that didn’t disappoint and knew how to sing most of their songs. Here and there a beer flew shyly through the air, as is customary, but nothing got out of hand. The Slovenes did shine at stage diving, though, after a few daredevils climbed onto the stage every now and then and showed off their jumping talents. A proper mini Planica, with short distances but enviably pretty style and surprisingly good telemarks – on their heads. The sound also deserves praise, since it was an important piece of the mosaic that added up to a perfect show.

An encore was of course a must. Casey invited girls from the crowd up on stage to sing the hit ‘Kiss Me, I’m Shitfaced’ together, and with the bravest and most fired-up fans climbing onto the stage en masse, they banged out ‘Skinhead in the MBTA’. With more than a hundred people on stage, they closed out the party of over an hour and a half with a cover of ‘T.N.T.’ (AC/DC).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ63dbKVpJk

It was a night when Šiška really got shaken to its foundations. A night we’ll remember for a long time and one we hope gets repeated. Maybe the kiss of Venus and the Sun in lively Gemini, which happens very rarely, had something to do with it, but in the air on that Tuesday night you could feel incredible playfulness, positive energy and magnetism.

Setlist

1. Hang ‘Em High
2. Captain Kelly’s Kitchen
3. Sunday Hardcore Matinee
4. The Gang’s All Here
5. Sunshine Highway
6. Bastards On Parade
7. Going Out In Style
8. Which Side Are You On?
9. Forever
10. The Irish Rover
11. Fields of Athenry
12. Do or Die
13. Road of the Righteous
14. Warrior’s Code (acoustic)
15. Take ‘Em Down (acoustic)
16. Boys on the Docks (acoustic
17. The State of Massachusetts
18. The Dirty Glass (w. Nora Parkington)
19. Barroom Hero
20. Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya
21. Citizen C.I.A.
22. Broken Hymns
23. I’m Shipping Up to Boston