I have never seen a more perfect marriage between an act and a venue than Dropkick Murphy’s shows at Fenway Park last Thursday and Friday. The outfield, diamond, and grandstands looked almost like a scenic banner that would hang behind the legendary Boston rockers when they go on tour. For two special nights, however, it was real. The show was almost too-good-to-be-true for anyone that has followed the hometown boys since their inception in ’96. The band has been led for the last 10 years by Al Barr, whose infectious stage persona was a presence the entire night. You could tell the New Hampshire native realized the magnitude of what his band was doing and he was as genuinely excited as you’ll ever see in a performing musician.

The setup was a little unusual. In what has come to be called “Bleacher Theater”, a stage was built on top of the bullpens in the outfield and only bleacher and grandstand sections were used. This made for a more intimate show, with only 9,000 fans each night despite Fenway’s 30,000 person capacity. Instead of the stage being on the field and no fans being closer than 30 feet to the group, the stage put those in attendance on top of the stage and they could see every bead of sweat dripping off of Ken Casey’s nose. 

After a drawn out intro, a spotlight focused in on the band, the band was then joined by a brigade of bagpipe players, strolling across the top of the green monster. After what seemed like 15 minutes the lights finally turned on and they started with “Hang ‘Em