Grade2, English band from Ryde on the Isle of Wight, opened a concert with their high energy interpretation of Punk rock and Oi! Fusion. It’s been great witnessing their youthful energy and seeing that young punks were in the audience proving that punk will never die!
DROPKICK MURPHYS gave us a fired up and explosive gig that will be remembered as one of the best concerts that were held in Zagreb this year!!
Luckily the weather has been merciful and the rain stopped just in time for the concert so it was an extremely pleasurable event. Like always, at all Dropkick Murphys concerts the crowd was in an extremely good mood and it was very easy making friends or ending up hugging and jumping to our favourite songs with new friends we made just minutes ago!!!
The band itself doesn’t need any special introduction as mainly all is known about them and they represent favourites of the local audience, which is greatly enhanced by the long tradition of Irish-Croatian love that has been proven many times up to now! Secret of their success is the successful combination of traditional Irish folk and punk as they give an equal role to bass and electric guitars as well as bagpipes, flutes, violin and mandolin, which is typical of Celtic punk. They became one of the most beloved voices of the working class and the little man as they sing about failed industry, Boston, oppressed workers, family, friendship and love in a way that makes all of our troubles bearable and easier. The magic of their charisma is in the ability to transform grief, loss, anger and injustice into positive energy of letting go and coping in a positive way!
The concert was opened very explosively and immediately and unmercifully numerous huge hits were performed, such as “Blood” and “The Boys Are Back”, which led us to the first climax of the concert: their masterpiece- “Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya”! which instantly drove the audience into ecstasy! The rest of the Setlist was perfect and I believe that no one ended up with any glimpses of remorse as the very extensive list was comprehensive enough and included most of the most loved songs. Other highlights of the evening were: “Barroom Hero”, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” (Rodgers & Hammerstein cover), “The Irish Rover” (Joseph M. Crofts cover) and “I’m Shipping Up to Boston”. Of course, the absolute climax was reached during the performance of the magnificent “Rose Tattoo”.
The concert was absolutely amazing and incredible! There is no word to describe the contagious and explosive energy the whole band radiates! The undeniable charisma, positivity and energy to transform the shittiest life experiences into happy-must-sing-along hymns that everybody knows and can relate to is simply incredible and can not be quite experienced from any other band!
Note: photographs have been taken from another event.
