Punk icons Dropkick Murphys brought sharp teeth and brutal bite to Grinders

Allison Scavo,
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Dropkick Murphys. // photo by Allison Scavo

Dropkick Murphys
with Bad Religion
Grinders KC
Monday, August 4

The Kansas City skyline dripped pastels across the stage at Grinders as the first chord cracked through the speakers. “Who Will Stand With Us” roared as the crowd surged forward, ready for a fight against all things wrong. The sea of fans immediately erupted into a much-anticipated mosh pit that quickly formed a crowd surfing starting point. The set successfully adopted a crossover towards a protest against fascism. Old favorites and new tracks from their freshly released For the People album were steeped in class struggle, embracing life, and doing what’s right and with solidarity, while seamlessly flowing it all together. As punks do when physically lifting, carrying, and shoving one another, they helped everyone all the same.

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Our photographer’s son crowd surfs at Dropkick Murphys . // photo by Allison Scavo

When lead singer Ken Casey saw a young girl crowd surfing, he got to the front to help her over the barricade and watched until she made it back to her group safely. As I was noting how sweet this was, I realized the next person mid-flight was my own son. Granted he looks like a grown man, so when he approached me with a bloody lip, laughing hysterically about how much fun it was to be with people like him (I’m a Deadhead at heart, don’t come for me), I couldn’t help but laugh too.

Last night’s performance was not just a concert but a political statement that music carries and uplifts far beyond mosh pits and crowd surfers. Locally and globally, in unison, we stand against fascism. Punk music still has teeth, and they’re clenched.

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Bad Religion. // photo by Allison Scavo

To say Bad Religion opened for Dropkick Murphys would be a misrepresentation of their set, as they have 45 years of headlining in their history so it’s more like double headlining a tour. When asked who had never seen them before, over half the crowd raised their hands and with quick wit, guitar player Brett Gurewitz said, “Well, that’s clearly our fault,” before belting into the next punk rock song that made people in the mosh pit race over one another. Their influence is far and wide. After their set, they came out to join the crowd to watch Dropkick Murphys, where they blended right in, like they weren’t just running on stage, causing their own mosh pit.

Here’s to another 45 years.

All photos by Allison Scavo

Dropkick Murphys

Dropkick Murphys setlist
Who’ll Stand With Us?
The State of Massachusetts
Going Out in Style
The Boys Are Back
Longshot
The Hardest Mile
Barroom Hero
Citizen C.I.A.
Chesterfields & Aftershave
Out of Our Heads
Finnegan’s Wake (traditional)
Caught in a Jar
Skinhead on the MBTA
School Days Over
Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya
Bury the Bones
Rose Tattoo
Worker’s Song
—
I’m Shipping Up to Boston
The Big Man

Bad Religion

Bad Religion setlist
Recipe for Hate
Supersonic
You Are (the Government)
Candidate
No Control
Struck a Nerve
New Dark Ages
Modern Man
My Sanity
I Want to Conquer the World
Fuck Armageddon… This Is Hell
Fields of Mars
Do What You Want
True North
Atomic Garden
We’re Only Gonna Die
Generator
You
21st Century (Digital Boy)
Infected
Cease
Anesthesia
Sorrow
American Jesus

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