What does St. Patrick’s Day, a parade, and the Dropkick Murphys all have in common? The strong tradition behind them.
St. Patrick is the famous Catholic saint who drove the serpents from Ireland, and the emerald isle’s patron saint. Over time, in South Boston it has become custom to have a parade right around St. Patrick’s feast day, March 17. So on the Sunday after the official date, a parade takes place in South Boston to celebrate their Irish heritage, even if their ancestors weren’t. As the saying goes, everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. Floats, bagpipers, servicemen, Clydesdales, and a slew of other organizations march in the parade. This year was the 103rd such parade in South Boston.
To commemorate St. Patrick’s Day, Boston’s very own Dropkick Murphys have, for at least the past several years, been playing shows in their hometown down at the Avalon on Lansdowne Street for three straight nights. Previous years, I had never really thought too much of it. Easily enough I was able to go to these shows for a fair price and with not much of a burden to myself. I found out that this year it had all changed. Just as the St. Paddy’s Day parade is tradition in South Boston, the Dropkick Murphys playing for St. Paddy’s Day has now been made a tradition all its own. People come from all over the United States to see the Dropkick Murphys on this week of St. Patrick’s Day.
After the show on March 19, I bumped into some people that came up from New Jersey to see the show, and a group of girls who came to Boston on their spring break to see the Dropkick Murphys. Later I found out that these girls came all the way from Arizona. Some people might think that this is fantastic that there are fans out there that are so dedicated to the Dropkick Murphys that they would actually take such a huge trip to Boston just to see them. Well, not me.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to be bitter just because a band I’ve known and loved for a while now is finally getting the popularity they so richly deserve, it’s just now that the tradition of the Dropkicks’ St. Paddy’s Day show has blown up, it’s become increasingly hard to get tickets. The Saturday show, which I attended, sold out two hours after going on sale.
The only way I got into the show was because I had connections with one of the opening acts. If it wasn’t for the good guys in the band Confront I would have not seen this show. But just because a show is sold out doesn’t mean that tickets are completely unavailable. Reportedly people on eBay were scalping tickets for upwards of 80 dollars. I only know this because one of my friends was just desperate enough to drop said 80 dollars on the coveted tickets. Before this year, me and my friends would usually get some beer then go to the show and be able to get tickets that day. But not any more. Now, same-day tickets would be unheard of.
Whether or not you think its worth it or not I just have to say one thing. The Saint Patrick’s Day parade in South Boston has always been people getting together with their friends and relatives to enjoy the parade and throw back a few cold ones. The Dropkick Murphys are all about the very same sense of camaraderie and general social carousing. This year some of my friends got tickets to the shows, some of us didn’t. So, my gang of friends from all over the country gathered to watch the Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade.
Ultimately, the parade made my week. So in the end I don’t want to tell everyone out there not go to the Dropkick Murphys concerts next year, and to not spend 80 dollars on a ticket, but if by the off chance you don’t make it to one of the shows, there’s still hope. Just hop down to South Boston next year with a bunch of a your close friends to enjoy what the Dropkick Murphys have been celebrating for years.