Like green beer, the Dropkick Murphys are a St. Patrick’s Day institution.
And the Boston punks will celebrate the boozy holiday this year with the release of Live On Lansdowne, Boston MA, a combination live CD/DVD out March 16, the day before their beloved St. Patrick’s Day. And SPIN has an exclusive preview of the release — video of the guys performing “The State of Massachusetts.” Watch below!
The DVD features the rambunctious rockers’ full 2009 St. Patrick’s Day performance to a drunken hometown crowd. “We thought it was high time to show the uninitiated what the mayhem and insanity of our live gigs was like… from the comfort of their living rooms,” drummer Matt Kelly tells SPIN.
“The State of Massachusetts” is off the Murphys’ SPIN-approved 2007 album The Meanest of Times. And it appears the song is popular in its namesake state: as the video shows, the amped-up crowd (most dressed in green) shout along as the band furiously rock out.
The Murphys get a lot of hometown love: their song “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” — also included on the CD/DVD — was featured on Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning 2006 Boston crime drama The Departed, and on New Year’s Day the band performed at the third annual NHL Winter Classic at Fenway ballpark. For the game, the Bruins covered the Red Sox’s field in ice. “We consider ourselves extremely lucky and highly honored to be part of the whole fiasco,” says Kelly.
The Dropkick Murphys are currently on tour, which will cap with an appearance at Bonnaroo in June. Check out their website for complete dates.
Watch “The State of Massachusetts” live, then tell us what you think about the performance — and one band member’s kilt! — in the comment section below.
WATCH: Dropkick Murphys, “The State of Massachusetts”
