Wreck The Halls With The Street Dogs & Friends At The Paradise Rock Club
December 19th marked the first show of The Street Dogs’ two-night, hometown gig at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston and the end of the band’s 5th annual “Wreck The Halls” holiday tour. With support from Roger Miret & The Disasters, Stigma and Bryan McPherson, the lineup had all the ingredients to make the night the can’t-miss show of the season. And then, the snow. With reports of a major storm heading towards Boston, one that had already dropped over 20″ on parts of Pennsylvania and brought Washington, DC to a standstill, the city declared a snow emergency. Would people be too busy guarding their parking spaces with shovels and stocking up on road salt to come to the show? Or worse, would the show be canceled all together?
While the show wasn’t canceled, I was a little worried by the surprisingly small crowd gathered near the stage for the start of Roger Miret and the Disasters‘ set. Even the band seemed concerned about the weather, with singer/guitarist Roger Miret announcing,“We decided to play first tonight so we could beat the snow.” Did this mean that the weather had won? By the middle of The Disaster’s set, it appeared my worrying was all for naught. The Paradise had become a sea of flannel and scally caps, making the score Punk Rock: 1, Snow Emergency:0.
Hailing from NYC, The Disasters are the side project of Agnostic Front vocalist Roger Miret. For this show, they were accompanied by the drummer from Stigma. Going strong since 2001, the band played their brand of honest, no frills punk rock including “New York Belongs To Me” and “Give ‘Em The Boot” from their self-titled 2001 debut and “Roots Rockin’ Roll” from 2006’s My Riot.
The Street Dogs make no secret of their Dorchester roots so it’s fitting that they gave another Dot punk a chance to shine: Singer-Songwriter Bryan McPherson. At first glance, McPherson seemed a little out of place, sandwiched between full bands with only his acoustic guitar and harmonica, but punk is about attitude, not instruments. McPherson combines the storytelling tradition of folk with the passion an ferocity of punk, singing songs about his experiences growing up in Dorchester. McPherson’s fans in the crowd shouted for his song “OFD” (Originally From Dorchester) so naturally his introduction of “How many kids from Dorchester are here tonight?” was met with cheers and raised fists. Previously opening for Chuck Berry, The Neighborhoods, Chad Smith of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black 47, H20 and the Dropkick Murphys St. Patrick’s show, McPherson can now add the Street Dogs to his resume.
Agnostic Front fans in the house got another treat with Stigma, the solo project of original Agnostic Front guitarist and hardcore mainstay Vinnie Stigma with AF’s Mike Gallo on bass. Stigma and his band played songs from their 2009 debut album New York Blood, including the title track, “NY Blood,” “Trouble,” and a very well received cover of Forced Reality’s “15 Pints.” Vinnie paced back and forth on the stage, clowning around and joking with his bandmates and the audience: When Street Dogs bassist Tobe Bean III joined the band for a few songs, Stigma introduced him to the audience, saying, ‘This is Tobe – he’s got a drinking problem” in reference to the Street Dog’s infamous tune “Tobe’s Got A Drinking Problem.”
After Stigma, the house music died down and the familiar “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!” of Ramones classic “Blitzkreig Bop” came over the Paradise’s sound system. They crowd sang along, pogoed and threw their fists in the air, which lead this concert goer to think that if they just played Ramones albums before every punk show, there would be no need for opening bands. Before the energy had the chance to dissipate, the lights dimmed and The Street Dogs took the stage.
The Street Dogs are a band that almost wasn’t. Singer Mike McColgan thought he was done with music when he left the Dropkick Murphys in 1998 to pursue his dream of becoming a Boston firefighter. Still, as a Gulf War veteran, musician and now a firefighter, McColgan had a wealth of experiences to draw upon. He kept writing music, eventually getting together with friends and recording Savin Hill in 2003. The album was supposed to be just a one-off, but the response by fans was so overwhelming, McColgan and company knew they had to continue on.
The Street Dogs fuse the political fire of The Clash with the drinking songs of the Pogues and an attitude that is uniquely Bostonian. Song topics range from stories of living in Dorchester to Pro-union anthems to drinking songs to laments for lost friends and family. The whole band is full of energy, roaming the stage, high-fiving fans and jumping off of the drum platform.
They played songs like”Modern Day Labour Anthem” and “In Defense of Dorchester,” with McColgan urging those in attendance to “Stand up for their neighborhoods.” As an intro to “Tobe’s Got a Drinking Problem,” bassist Johnny Rioux asked the crowd “How many people are getting wasted tonight?” His was response was an ear-splitting roar, which he declared the loudest he had heard all tour. The band then proceeded to invite two people on stage to have a drinking contest with guitarist Tobe Bean III. All three were armed with tallboy cans, and while it was hard to see who won, any contest involving beer makes everyone a winner.
McColgan announced that The Street Dogs are currently working on a new album due out in Fall 2010, and that they’ve been writing songs with original Dropkick Murphys guitarist Rick Barton. McColgan then invited Rick on stage to join them for a few songs. For an encore, the band played fan favorite “Savin Hill” and invited fans to join them onstage for their cover of Sham 69’s “Borstal Breakout” with the lyrics changed to”Boston Breakout.”
The Street Dogs will be playing string of West Coast dates with Reverand Horton Heat, including a New Year’s Eve show at the Anaheim House of Blues, before heading into the studio to record their new album. Roger Miret & Vinnie Stigma will be reuniting with their classic lineup, Agnostic Front bandmates Rob Kabula and Dave Jones, for a 25th Anniversary show at the Bell House in Brooklyn, NYC on February 26th, with 2010 tour dates planned around the world.
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