{"id":6144,"date":"2021-09-27T15:01:49","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T19:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/315music.com\/?p=6144"},"modified":"2021-09-27T15:01:54","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T19:01:54","slug":"flogging-molly-with-special-guests-violent-femmes-me-first-and-the-gimme-gimmes-and-thick-bring-punk-rock-at-its-finest-to-rochesters-main-street-armory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/315music.com\/index.php\/2021\/09\/27\/flogging-molly-with-special-guests-violent-femmes-me-first-and-the-gimme-gimmes-and-thick-bring-punk-rock-at-its-finest-to-rochesters-main-street-armory\/","title":{"rendered":"Flogging Molly with special guests Violent Femmes, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and Thick bring punk rock at its finest to Rochester\u2019s Main Street Armory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Show Review by Kelly Besaw<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The all-female punk band, Thick, kicked off the evening right at 7 o\u2019clock. The band had a ’90s punk feel to it and fit right in with the rest of the night\u2019s lineup. Thick is on tour in support of their current EP release 5 Years Behind. <\/em>The album confronts \u201cthe countless disappointments and injustices the band deals with every day, \u201cthe reckless hypocrisy of people in power, social media\u2019s erosion of genuine connection, dudes who feel inexplicably entitled to share their most loathsome opinions.\u201d With songs titles like \u201cMansplain,\u201d \u201cBumming Me Out,\u201d and \u201cFake News,\u201d the message is pretty clear. My friend who attended the show with me described Thick as a band that could be on the Empire Records<\/em> movie soundtrack. I couldn\u2019t agree more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Up next was punk cover band legends, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. The band took the stage donned in their finest light purple silk shirts. Lead singer Spike Slawson wore a shiny gold suit jacket over his. It\u2019s a pretty distinct look. The Gimme Gimmes kicked things off with \u201cDon\u2019t You Worry \u2018bout a Thing\u201d (Stevie Wonder cover) and went right into their cover of Dolly Parton\u2019s \u201cJolene.\u201d The band is notorious for constantly rotating lineups and has included greats like Fat Mike (NOFX), Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters), Jay Bentley (Bad Religion), and Brian Baker (Bad Religion and Minor Threat). The current touring lineup consists of Spike Slawson (lead vocals), CJ Ramone (bass), John \u201cThe Swami\u201d Reis from Rocket from the Crypt (guitar), Andrew \u201cPinch\u201d Pinching of the Damned (drums), and Jonny \u201c2 Bags\u201d Wickersham of Social Distortion (guitar). Not too shabby!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Frontman Spike Slawson was hilarious. Think Andy Kaufman\u2019s alter ego Tony Clifton but less vulgar. Me First entertained the audience with sing-along covers of \u201cStraight Up\u201d (Paula Abdul), \u201cSweet Caroline\u201d (Neil Diamond), and \u201cOver the Rainbow\u201d (Harold Arlen). Spike paused to joke with the audience and the running gag became, \u201cthis next song\u2019s a cover.\u201d They ended their set with three wild versions of sing-along favorites, \u201cWho Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)\u201d (Barry Mann), \u201cSummertime\u201d (George Gershwin), and \u201cEnd of the Road\u201d (Boyz II Men). Me First is without a doubt the most talented and fun cover band I have ever seen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was super excited to see the next band. I admit that even though I am a huge fan of the Violent Femmes, I had never seen them live. As their instruments filled the stage, it was clear that it was going to be an interesting performance. The setup included a giant horned instrument (not sure what it was) and a barbeque grill, the small round charcoal type. Gordon Gano (lead vocals, guitar, violin, banjo), Brian Ritchie (bass, backup vocals, guitars, xylophone), and John Sparrow (drums, percussion, backup vocals) took the stage and the Femmes kicked off their set with \u201cAdd It Up\u201d followed by \u201cAmerican Music.\u201d They sounded amazing. John Sparrow ran around the stage playing various percussion instruments throughout their set. Brian Ritchie didn\u2019t stop smiling the entire time and Gordon Gano showcased his unique vocal range and musical abilities playing both guitar and violin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Femmes played a nice mix of songs from their catalog including an awesome version of \u201cColor Me Once\u201d from The Crow<\/em> soundtrack. Fans sang along loudly to the last four well-known tunes, \u201cI Held Her in My Arms,\u201d \u201cGone Daddy Gone,\u201d \u201cBlister in the Sun,\u201d and \u201cKiss Off.\u201d This was one of my bucket list bands and I was not disappointed. I cannot wait to see them again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set list: <\/strong>Add It Up, American Music, Breakin\u2019 Up, Prove My Love, Promise, Memory, Jesus Walking on the Water, Good Feeling, Never Tell, Freak Magnet, Color Me Once, I Held Her in My Arms, Gone Daddy Gone, Blister in the Sun, Kiss Off<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The crowd pressed closer to the stage as the crew set up for Flogging Molly. Dave King waltzed to center stage and the band started things off with the high energy \u201cDevil\u2019s Dance Floor.\u201d It was an appropriate song as I forgot to mention that it was hot as hell in the Main Street Armory. There was zero air circulation. The seemingly uncaring diehard fans started a massive dance circle regardless of the heat. Dave King joked that it was straight Guinness sweating from his pores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guitarist, Dennis Casey is a Rochester native. It Is always nice to see him play his hometown. I feel like we get a few more smiles and guitar kicks. Dave King paused after their second song to say, \u201cYou may have noticed that one of us is missing from the stage tonight. Our thoughts are with Scobie Hensley. He will be back with us soon. This song goes out to him.\u201d The band dedicated \u201cThe Worst Day Since Yesterday\u201d to Matt Hensley. I hope everything is okay and that he is back soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I sometimes forget how expansive Flogging Molly\u2019s catalog is. They played a variety of older tunes to which Dave King joked again about the temperature of the venue, \u201cwe\u2019re sweating with the oldies.\u201d One of the reasons I decided to check out Flogging Molly many, many years ago was Bridget Regan\u2019s violin playing. I played the violin in high school. She is incredibly talented and brings Irish punk to a whole new level. I could watch her play all day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crowd loved \u201cBlack Friday Rule\u201d a song Dave King Said they hadn\u2019t played in many years. Newcomer, Spencer Swain (mandolin, banjo, guitar), fits right in and rocked it during \u201cThe Likes of You Again.\u201d Flogging Molly continued with more hits \u201cSwagger,\u201d \u201cFloat,\u201d and \u201cSalty Dog.\u201d I love watching Nathan Maxwell. He always looks happy and does a great job connecting with the fans. Mike Alonso (drums) kept the rhythm perfectly during \u201cWhat\u2019s Left of the Flag.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although their set seemed short, probably because there are so many songs I wanted to hear, it was a long night of music, and it was hot and sweaty, and I was looking forward to some fresh air as Flogging Molly bid farewell and closed with \u201cThe Seven Deadly Sins.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set list: <\/strong>Devil\u2019s Dance Floor, The Hand of John L. Sullivan, Drunken Lullabies, The Worst Day Since Yesterday, Black Friday Rule, Croppy Boy, The Likes of You Again, Swagger, Float, Crushed (Hostile Nations), Salty Dog, If I Ever Leave This World Alive, What\u2019s Left of the Flag, The Seven Deadly Sins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Show Review by Kelly Besaw The all-female punk band, Thick, kicked off the evening right at 7 o\u2019clock. The band had a ’90s punk feel to it and fit right in with the rest of the night\u2019s lineup. Thick is on tour in support of their current EP release 5 Years Behind. The album confronts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":6150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,24],"tags":[1322,5093,2768,5094,5092],"class_list":["post-6144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-photo-gallery","category-show-reviews","tag-flogging-molly","tag-me-first-and-the-gimme-gimmes","tag-punk","tag-thick","tag-violent-femmes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/315music.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/315music.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/315music.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/315music.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/315music.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/315music.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/315music.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/315music.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/315music.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/315music.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}