Dropkick Murphys Setlist

Barroom Hero
The State of Massachusetts
Caps and Bottles
The Boys Are Back
Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya
The Gang’s All Here
The Guns of Brixton (The Clash cover)
Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight
Deeds Not Words
You’ll Never Walk Alone (Rodgers & Hammerstein cover)
Kids Games
Finnegan’s Wake (traditional)
Caught in a Jar
Boys on the Docks
Dropped on My Head
Who’ll Stand With Us?
The Fields of Athenry (Pete St. John cover)
The Green Fields of France (Eric Bogle cover)
Citizen I.C.E.
Going Strong
Rose Tattoo
Worker’s Song
I’m Shipping Up to Boston
The Big Man

Aggrolites Setlist

Time to Get Tough
Funky Fire
The Volcano
Medley
Til the Wheels Fall Off
Free Time
Mr. Misery
Countryman Fiddle
Gangsters (The Specials cover)
Take Em All
Dirty Reggae
Can’t Take My Eyes Off (Frankie Valli cover)
These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ (Nancy Sinatra cover)

Haywire Setlist

Pre-recorded audio: Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline
Haywire
SUMMER NIGHTS
Boston Boot Boys
Poser Disposer
CLOCKTOWER PLACE
New England Forever
Love Song
ALWAYS BY MY SIDE
Like a Train

Slugger Setlist

New Generation
What Future
Humboldt Ave
Dead State
Politician
Under the Boot
Chopping Block
Out of Line
How Much More Can We Take?
Skinhead

The righteous anger over ICE tactics throughout the country, but particularly in Minnesota, has been seen in all facets of American life, with musicians playing their part (see our multi-part series of posts on Musicians Against ICE). And while it all has been amazing, there’s a special resonance for musicians and bands who have been activists for a long period of time (see Tom Morello and company’s recent Defend Minnesota! concert last month). Among those bands, Boston’s Dropkick Murphys has been a stalwart, aligning with a variety of working class unions and many other causes. Crazily enough, this was the second performance of the day for the band, as they had played as part of a free concert over in Minneapolis at the site of the murder of Alex Pretti. Now in the warm confines of the Palace Theatre in Saint Paul, Dropkick Murphys was headlining their For the People…In the Pit tour along with a great group of punk and punk adjacent bands looking to raise the spirits (and the heart rates) of the excited crowd.

Kicking off the four band evening, Slugger is a hardcore punk band hailing from California. A fairly new band, they already have multiple EP releases and one full length album, 2024’s Dead State. The quintet (vocals, guitar, guitar, bass, and drums) came out tough as you would hope, with the physically imposing lead singer/screamer crushing it on the opener New Generation. This was guitars set at full throttle and What Future? made clear how hard the evening was going to go. At the first break, we got uproarious cheers from the crowd and a meaningful statement about how being brave even when you don’t want to be has put Minnesota in the limelight and that it has been an inspiration. Slugger was efficient with their time, and Politician had that word being used like it was the dirtiest of curse words and the bass player aggressively in fighter stance. Under the Boot, dedicated to all of the working class, seemed to be even faster than the rest of the set so far, which was difficult to believe. Out of Line was described as a “dance number”, and the mosh pit at front center really started to coalesce. The band closed out on Skins and had done a fabulous job of riling up the crowd and setting the stage for the following acts.

Up next was Haywire, who may have the best mix of humor and succinctness in their description (“Boston hard core all day every day”). With that descriptor and the title of their 2024 album Conditioned for Demolition, you knew exactly what to expect from a live performance. After a hysterical start with a partial sing along to Sweet Caroline, they went to their titular song. The quintet (same set up as Slugger) had the lead vocalist (closer to sung than screamed, but definitely loud) all over the stage and the extra platform in front. This was frenetic energy and Summer Nights was the first of the crowd taught vocals. Dear reader, St. Paul came through big time. Poser Disposer was excellent and the wall of guitar was thorough. This was hard punk at its very definition: fast, brief, and loud with cutting lyrics. Another cut to some pre-recorded doo wop, Clocktower Place was a latter set number with the chorus “I don’t want to set the world on fire, I just want to watch it burn”, with all three guitarists on backing vocals. This set had flown by, but we got a special appearance from Ken Casey of the headliner to sing along on New England Forever, which injected a new set of energy. That closer was brutally intense and Haywire’s infectious energy had the crowd moving.

The Aggrolites brought their unique description of “dirty reggae”, a mix of reggae and soul with a punch of punk. With a number of albums, such as 2019’s REGGAE NOW!, the quintet (vocals/guotars, guitar, bass, organ, and drums) was definitely a different, adjacent vibe. Singer Jesse Wagner had the crowd grooving with his looser style and all three guitarists (cordless set ups) were criss-crossing the stage in the early going. A good medley let the band hit some great highlights and cement the transition to The Aggrolites’ sound and had some late sing along from the audience. Free Time had all of the band on back up vocals and an excellent organ/keys interlude. Ditching the guitar, Wagner announced the band has a new album coming out in June. We got a new song from it in Til the Wheels Fall Off and that sequencing of older and newer songs was well done. A great quip of “If you’re not dancing, you’re singing, right?”, worked to get the audience doing more of both. Countryman Fiddle was a bit of a constrained jam, with several organ and bass solo moments. We had a change of vocalists for Gangsters and then a guest from off stage (their tour manager?) for the next number. Things were moving fast and The Aggrolites kept that brighter sound going on the appropriately titled Dirty Reggae. A groove cover of Frankie Valli’s Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You was silly fun and the band switched back to their sound for the big finish with another cover, this time Nancy Sinatra’s Boots. A final number and The Aggrolites had made a cheerful hit with their music.

It was time for Dropkick Murphys, a Celtic punk band out of Boston. They have been on the scene since the mid 1990’s, and they have more than a dozen albums, most recently 2025’s For the People. Starting with a bit of bagpipe, the band literally came storming out on stage. Vocalist Ken Casey, in Happy Gilmore Boston jersey, was all over the stage, at the front barrier raised platform, and at one point early on, nearly in the audience. With seven members and many of them multi-instrumentalists, this was punk rock distilled through that Irish Boston lens. Barroom Hero gave the vibe of the set in front of us: punchy, lots of guitars with a mix of more traditional Irish instruments, and Casey directing things from the front. Boys Are Back utilized the bagpipes extremely well and Casey had the crowd in the palm of his hand, singing at his command. There was also very little break in the action and transitions were just brief enough to hit an opening drum beat or switch and/or tune instruments. Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya almost had more singing from the crowd and Casey was beaming. Deeds Not Words was dedicated to a certain temporary Washington DC resident. I couldn’t believe this was the band’s second show of the day, as they were flying high. That punk version of Never Walk Alone was a pretty cathartic number and Dropkick Murphys were putting their all into the evening.

This was A SHOW, and those rapid transitions, lighting choices, and high energy songs all combined to make a pretty electric atmosphere. Celebrating the 30th year of the band, Casey said they were trying to get to all of the albums and headed for several off of the first one, with Finnegan’s Wake letting all of those guitars (and mandolin!) fly. It felt right to have an Irish influenced band talk about the importance of immigrants to the United States and Boys on the Dock was perfectly suited to the moment. A brief break for remembrance, inspiration, and having each other’s backs led to Who’ll Stand With Us? and given it’s from the newest album, showed that there were plenty of current fans of the band, with the amount of audience singing lyrics. Casey had a honey bear out and drinking straight from it (“You know it’s bad when you break out the honey bear”), but he was keeping his strong vocals together. With the frontman from Haywire back on stage, it was time for Citizen I.C.E. and it led to a few darker punk songs. Rose Tattoo was back to the more Irish tones and worked really well. It was getting very late in the set, but Dropkick Murphys held the bluff that they might play forever exceedingly well. And that mirage was one that showed the power of live music, of connection in the face of adversity, and how these little moments of joy can make so much of what is happening in the world more bearable.