Having never been involved in what I can only describe as “The Flogging Molly Experience” (not to be confused with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, that’s a different experience), I was surprised, dumbfounded, intrigued, amped up and entertained by the resulting shock-and-awe campaign put into motion.
This is accomplished by the band as well as the participation of the fans themselves, who demonstrate a total immersion into the music that makes Flogging Molly not only a seven-piece Irish-infused rock group, but one with a rotating line up of hundreds depending on what city they happen to be in. It’s something I’ve never really seen first-hand until last Sunday at the House of Blues, a band inspiring a sold-out crowd of drunken hooligans into a cult like fervor, all in synchronization, and all creating the atmosphere of an epic pub hoe-down, complete with crowd surfing and mosh pits.
By the time Flogging Molly took to their throne, the crowd was already jittery and pretty beered up. Fittingly, they came out with their classic, “Drunken Lullabies,” which instantly endeared them to their loving fans. A frontier of even faster songs followed, building up to “Speed of Darkness,” which got everyone going with its catchy ascension. I began to see the appeal of what was happening on the stage, as their Celtic-infused speed pacers were driven by the stage energy of the band members and singer-guitarist Dave King’s rapid-fire strumming and duckwalking.