Celtic Punk | S.L.R. Magazine

Irish American Celtic punk band Flogging Molly are in the midst of their North American Winter Tour 2023, with help from Skinny Lister and Anti-Flag. Ultimate punk rock party came to Montclair New Jersey on a beautiful but little chilly Saturday night. However, the amount of beer and dancing made outside cold irrelevant.

Written by Andris Jansons

As soon as you stepped inside the venue, you immediately understood that you were here to party. British folk punk band Skinny Lister got the party going with lively performance that included a lot of dancing, drinking and liberal use of nsfw language. Songs performed included Hamburg Drunk, Company At The Bar and a new song Down On The Barrier. Bands vocalist Lorna Thomas did some crazy acrobatics on her high heel shoes, and offered some free classes for those willing to learn after the set. While for me this was absolutely first time seeing and hearing Skinny Lister, and my personal thoughts are that they play wonderful and uplifting music to have a party to, I will pass on the judgement call to a punk rock specialist and New Rock City punk rock music festival organizer Stephen Moss who was also in the attendance : “I never thought I’d see a musician jump off stage and play an accordion in the crowd like rockstars do at a rock show. Not only that, Skinny Lister had a bass player who played a stand up bass and he would twirl it around like a guitar! This band has such an amazing stage presence. In fact, the female singer even came off stage to arm wrestle me and two other guys in the front row! Their music was great and totally fit the theme of Celtic Punk. They opened up for Anti-Flag and Flogging Molly and totally matched their level.” Well, if that does not get you in Skinny Lister mood, I don’t what will.

See full Skinny Lister performance gallery here.

Next band on the bill was American punk rock band Anti-Flag from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. If you look at Skinny Lister and Flogging Molly, then inclusion of Anti-Flag would prompt some questions as their music style is more traditional hard hitting punk rock with no elements of folk. Anti-Flag musical message is very political and is strongly left leaning and the band is also known for its advocacy of progressive political movements such as Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and the Occupy movement. So how such a politically charged act would fit between two party animals. Well, absolutely seamlessly. The minute the band hit the stage the crowd got immersed in the aggressive style of bands music delivery. Within the second song the circle pit was open and the constant flow of crowd surfers began. While band toned down their left political message, they rather concentrated on what bot sides of political spectrum would agree – politicians lie and they use government to usurp power, need for equal rights and respect for everyone, and that is something we all get behind. Punk Rock unites not divides. My personal favorite was Die For The Government. That song was literally a bomb. Other songs performed were – The Fight Of Our Lives, The Press Corpse, This The End (For You My Friend) and many others. They also played a medley of some legendary punk rock tunes – Should I Stay Or Should I Go, Blitzkrieg Bop, God Save The Queen and others. Band wrapped their set with Victory Or Death (We Gave ‘Em Hell and Brandenburg Gate. And just like that one more time I go for the experts view from Stephen Moss : “Anti Flag. They came in like a brick to the face! They are the perfect blend of energy, anger, and a political message of equality and justice. They don’t shy away from uncomfortable topics and they love to get the conversation started by making you see what many choose to ignore. In today’s punk scene, you would be hard pressed to find a more honest, and in your face punk band.”

See full Anti-Flag performance gallery here.

Just in time when beer started to take control of your mind, the ultimate Irish party started. Usually drum set podium is covered with water bottles for the band to drink during the show, but not for proper Irishman, as Guiness outnumbered water by 3 to 1 – at least. The band came on stage missing very important person – Bridget Regan, violinist and vocalist for the band and wife of the bands vocalist David King. Dave explained her absence to the crowd due to an accident she suffered while in Texas, and jokingly pointed to our own Stephen Moss and said: “Her shoulder is as stiff as this guy’s hair (Stephen sports a red mohawk)”. Their music is characterized as Celtic Punk – you know, you take punk rock and combine that with Celtic folk sounds and a lot of beer and you get some proper party Celtic punk rock music that is tons of fun.

The most represented album in their set was 2002 Drunken Lullabies (kind of explains why this felt like a party) – Swagger, The Kilburn High Road, If I Ever Leave This World Alive, What’s Left Of The Flag and title song. From their latest release Anthem, that saw daylight last year, Flogging Molly played four songs. And new material blended with their older one almost seamlessly.

See full Flogging Molly performance gallery here.

One more time I turn to Stephen (you know, the guy with Mohawk), for his expert take: “Now that the crowd was emotionally ready to start gearing up and making Molotov cocktails, it was time to turn it down a couple of degrees. The headliner was Flogging Molly. They were a nice balance between the warm Irish drinking songs and the angst of punk rock. They lead the crowd in a “Fuck Putin” chant and played new songs as well as some from their first album. When you watch how enthusiastic and energetic they are, it’s hard to believe the singer is 61 years old! I’m 39 and I can’t move like that! Overall, those three bands went together perfectly! It was one amazing show!”

I could not agree more. This fantastic show will continue for one more month as it slowly heads West.

2023 TOUR DATES

2.21 Charleston, SC – Charleston Music Hall

2.22 Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel

2.24 Atlantic City, NJ – Sound Waves at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

2.25 Bethlehem, PA – Wind Creek Event Center

2.26 Huntington, NY – The Paramount

2.28 Worcester, MA – The Palladium

3.1 Syracuse, NY – Landmark Theatre

3.3 Madison, WI – The Sylvee

3.4 Grand Rapids, MI – 20 Monroe Live

3.5 Ft. Wayne, IN – The Clyde Theatre