(This Is) Boston Calling (Round 2) by Taron Cochrane
March 22nd, 2011“(This Is) Boston Calling!”
An Awkward Reginans’ Voyage into Booze-Filled Beantown Madness
*Round 2*
We had travelled thousands of miles, taken in the beautiful scenery of Boston, made a few memories and watched drunk chicks (sorry, drunk ladies) scream at each other over cigarettes at 3am on a dirty street corner. All of it was leading up to this one moment, this sliver in time…the reason I was put on this earth, my destiny. I lovingly embraced my wife and pulled her close to me; she lovingly told me to “Stop being so clingy” and romantically told me that this is “her spot and she ain’t moving”. Nothing could top this moment!
9pm, House of Blues, Boston, Massachusetts: The entire House of Blues is now pitch black. On the loud speaker plays, Irish legends Thin Lizzy’s hit song, ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’. The crowd starts to cheer as green lights flash left & right in unison. The bagpipes sound and a 12 foot banner descends as the lights come up and the band takes the stage. The entire building goes insane. These are their hometown heroes, the band who is going to put them on the map…again. (let us not forget the sheer beauty and talent of the actual band, Boston…that band ripped!). As the crowd literally loses their minds, the band cuts into the first track off of their new album, ‘Hang ‘Em High’; a song dedicated to the Wisconsin Union Workers and their recent struggle. The moment the music started they had us all in the palms of their hands.
Fun Dropkick Murphys Fact: The band also runs an organization called The Claddagh Fund that supports many Boston-based charities. As well, they recently spent time with a terminally-ill Cancer patient and had shirts for sale at the show that read, ‘Dropkick Cancer’ to help her pay some of her medical bills.
As the show progressed, the Dropkick Murphys unloaded an arsenal of hits from their entire discography which included ‘Captain Kelly’s Kitchen’, ‘Barroom Hero’ (the first song of theirs I had heard and loved as an acne-aced teenage boy who just wanted to find his one true love), ‘The Gangs All Here’, ‘Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya’, ‘State of Massachusetts’ and crowd sing-a-long favorite, ‘The Dirty Glass’.
Some notable moments in the show came when lead singer (and founding member…whom I would later nervously meet briefly backstage) Ken Casey dedicated their cover of 1913 Irish ballad, Peg O’ My Heart to his Grandmother in the crowd. On their latest album this song is done by the Dropkick Murphys and some random musician (who must be new to the music scene?) named, Bruce Springsteen. Another blog-worthy moment came when they played their cover of traditional Dubliners ballad, The Auld Triangle. This was the song that my wife and I chose to play as we entered our wedding reception. Not a love song by any means…but bloody amazing. (the original & the cover). The evening also included an on-stage appearance by Boston boxing legend, Micky Ward. Micky Ward was the premise behind the 2005 Dropkick Murphys album, ‘The Warrior’s Code’, as well as, the inspiration behind recent Hollywood blockbuster movie, ‘The Fighter’. We would later stand beside him in the VIP lounge but would be too scared to approach him.
Fun Micky Ward Fact: He is surprisingly short and does bear a resemblance to Mark Wahlberg. I was tempted to tell him, ‘Say hi to your mother for me’…but realized that it would not only be stupid and get me seriously injured ; it was also a joke that didn’t really make much sense in the end and also hasn’t been relevant for quite some time. I’m lame.
As the show ended the band closed their set with ‘Shipping Up to Boston’ and the crowd (as expected) threw a fit. As we waited patiently for them to return to do their encore you could hear witty chants such as, ‘Yankees Suck’ echo threw the building. When the band did return they went straight into their drunken battle hymn, ‘Kiss Me, I’m Sh*tfaced’ and as Ken Casey wound up the crowd, he slowly started to pull people up on stage. Eventually the entire stage was full of crowd members dancing and singing along. This would lead the band into the politically charged (and very intense) song, ‘Citizen CIA’ which saw many of those people on the stage jumping into the crowd and/or creating music-induced havoc. The set abruptly ended and I exhaled…insanity ensued.
Fun Bruce Springsteen Fact: During the March 18th performance, The Boss did make an actual appearance to play ‘Peg O’ My Heart’ along with his song, ‘Badlands’ and the Boston anthem, ‘Shipping Up to Boston’. Rumor had it that Max Weinberg was also at this show.
10:45pm, Thurs. March 17th: Just witnessed an amazing show and now we are back at the VIP Lounge chillin’ like villians. At times, even making it so-called rain with bundles of cash and popping Cristal with the other high-class folk. Well maybe not that elegant but wouldn’t it had been cool if we were? We have a few more quick drinks and cab it over to Ken Casey’s bar, ‘McGreevy’s’ for the after-party. It is one of the places I had wanted to see while in town and all-in-all is a great little sports bar just off the beaten path. The story behind its name is quite interesting as well… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessie. We head back to our hotel after a few more drinks to let the sounds of drunken fist fights, cop sirens and Irish diddies lull us to sleep.
8am, Fri. March 18th: We both wake up a little too early and are not feeling 100% as we had the other mornings. I don’t quite get why but I am sure one day I will figure it out. Since we aren’t in the proper state of mind, we also decide that the best idea for today’s adventure is a three-mile trek throughout Boston. Realistically, it was quite the adventure and we did see lots of local attractions and unbelievable architecture but it probably wasn’t the smartest idea when your body wants to shut down. Don’t fret, we survived and maybe if you’re nice I will share some of our photos with you one day. I bet you can’t wait! The evening was nice and relaxing with a supper at Jose McIntyre’s; a restaurant going through a terrible identity crisis with Irish themed decor and drinks and a Mexican food menu. This would also be the place we forgot our camera…the same camera that held over (100) adorable photos of our dogs & puppies. Whoever found that camera must’ve thought we were weirdos. We did get it back in the end and were grateful.
11am, Sat. March 19th: We voyage through Little Italy looking for a good place for breakfast before planning on heading out to Salem. At first all we find are elderly Italian men yelling at each other but eventually stumble on a nice little hole-in-the-wall cafe that has bacon & eggs. Victory.
3pm, Sat. March 19th: We spend the afternoon wandering through Harvard and Cambridge with the fellow elite. I consider applying for enrollment but my wife soon reminds me that I am far too intelligent and may be considered ‘over-qualified’ for the position. She also finds it appropriate at this time to inform me that I am also extremely handsome and devishly-funny. These are just some of my recollections of that day. We stumble across an emergency station in a park that features a giant red button should any emergency occur. Someone has written, ‘Batman’ above the button. That someone is hilarious!
9pm, Sat. March 19th: Our last evening in Boston which is soon to be followed by a 5am wake-up call to catch a plane home. We decide to ‘go out in style’ and head out for a lobster feast. The food is delicious and as we march back to our hotel with full bellies and heavy hearts, we are given a Boston send-off worthy of a King. As we are walking arm-in-arm, lovingly down the street a drunken homeless man takes a glance at my wife and yells to me, “Hey buddy…you got yo’ self some fine taste in the ladies!” We’ll miss you Boston…in all your drunken glory. As The Standells so finely put it, ‘Boston, you’re my home!”.
Fun Travel Tip: If you’re starving while on flight but unsatisfied with the small bag of peanuts you receive…simply do the following to rid yourself of those hunger pains. When the steward/stewardess asks you which you would prefer; cookies, peanuts or chips just say, ‘all’. Next stop: deliciousness.
Thanks for listening to me ramble and I would also like to note that words cannot express our thanks to the fine folks at 104.9 The Wolf for this amazing adventure, it will never be forgotten. We are forever grateful.
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Slainte!
-Taron Cochrane
