Wreck The Halls with The Street Dogs – The Bruisers – Off With Their Heads – Murder the Stout – Barroom Heroes – at The Paradise Rock club – Boston, MA

Everyone has treasured holiday traditions. Many of them involve drunken uncles, or terrible sweaters, but for those of us lucky enough to be in Boston, the start of the holidays has increasingly come to mean one thing: the Street Dogs' triumphant return home for the annual Wreck the Halls shows.
This year the tour started in Texas at the end of November, winding it's way through the Midwest and even Canada before coming home to Boston. Tire blowout and RV trouble at 2:30 AM on the way to New York City tried to throw a wrench in the works, but the band made it through, spending their day off Thursday night at a fundraiser at Midway Cafe to raise money for a cochlear implant to help a 7 year old child hear for the very first time.

When Friday came, the band was ready to tear the roof off the Paradise Rock club, with the help of some friends.

Doors opened at 6, but the early hour didn't stop fans lining up in the bitter cold in front of the club. When the first band, Barroom Heroes came on at 7, there was already a decent crowd in the venue. Barroom Heroes are the future of punk rock, a point they make in one of their original, sneering songs. The band is a group of kids from Weymouth, MA, and when I say kids, I mean kids, they look to be about 13 years old at most. Singing duties are split between bassist and guitarist, and it's not hard to hear the Lars Fredriksen influence, readily acknowledged before the band launched into a cover of "To Have and To Have Not", though at times these kids also seem to be channeling The Unseen. The crowd was behind them all the way, singing along, and dancing enthusiastically to the big finish, a cover of the Dropkick Murphys' "Barroom Hero", for reasons I'm sure you can guess.

Murder the Stout stormed the stage next, a large band led by a Scotsman, hailing from Houston, TX. Despite the Scot, the band plays the sort of high-energy Celtic punk the Pogues and Flogging Molly have made so close to our hearts. In fact, the band even covers The Pogues' "Streams of Whiskey". Irish in Boston goes over bigger than Mexican in Los Angeles, and there were plenty of raised glasses, and movement on the dance floor.



Off With Their Heads followed, and if you haven't seen them yet, that's your fault not theirs. Frontman Ryan announced that Friday's show marked their 300th for the year, which means they've had less than 60 days not on the road this year. As always, the band braced themselves, then launched into a wall of pure sonic fury, tearing though old favorites like "Fuck This, I'm Out" and new songs, including "Drive". In between songs Ryan would throw out shoutouts to favorite Boston bands, before admitting there were simply too many to list one by one. The set also included a cover of the Beltones' "Fuck You Anyway", probably the Beltones' best, and well in line with the persona of Off With Their Heads.

And then, at last, it was time. Boston takes a lot of pride in everything we do, it's part of what makes Red Sox fans so insufferable when we travel, and if you can't see how much this city loves the Street Dogs, you don't know what love is. By now, the venue was packed to the rafters, people jammed shoulder to shoulder on the floor, and the balcony crammed with bodies. As the house PA was silenced, and the lights cut, the sound of pipes came from backstage. The crowd erupted as the Bunker Hill Pipe Band filed on stage. Known as the official pipe band for the Murphys, they now announced the Street Dogs' return to home stage. Their introduction done, they marched off, and Johnny Cash's "Ain't No Grave" came over the speakers. The band took their places on stage in the darkness, and then as Johnny finished, the lights flared on, Mike McColgan burst to the front of the stage, and the band launched into "Rattle and Roll".

It seems hard to believe now that the Paradise is still standing, the mosh pit reached all the way from the stage to the back wall at times, and there was a sea of fists, and thrown back heads as everyone sang along to "Two Angry Kids", "Not Without A Purpose" and so many more. At a single word from frontman Mike McColgan that crowd surfing was ok tonight (it's usually prohibited at the Paradise), the air was full of bodies. Mike himself crowdsurfed while singing more than once in the set, and it was clear from the faces of everyone on stage that they were glad to be home. The Street Dogs were even joined on stage by Blood for Blood's Erick "Buddah" Medina for a song, sending the crowd into an even greater frenzy. The high energy hour felt like five minutes and all too soon it seemed to be over.

"Let's go Street Dogs!" chants rocked the club, and after only a brief wait, Johnny Rioux came out to start the encore. This encore was a little taste of something many of us have been hoping for for a very long time. Rioux addressed the crowd, saying he used to play in another band, the Bruisers, and for the first time in years, they had been put on the guest list, and they all came. The crowd caught it's breath, and the anticipation in the room was a physical presence. "And so we'd like to do a song" Rioux said, as the members of the Bruisers filed on stage, and took up instruments. Al Barr was absent, busy writing the new Dropkick Murphys album so, fittingly, former Dropkick Murphys singer Mike McColgan filled vocal duty. After a short introduction and a dedication to the Titan of hardcore, Vinnie Stygma, they launched into "Iron Chin". It's hard to imagine a more perfect Christmas present.

The encore finished with "Boston Breakout", complete with a stage full of fans, lending their voices to finish the show loud and proud. Afterwards, as always Mike McColgan stood on the floor shaking hands, chatting , and posing for pictures with fans. This was a warm and genuine homecoming for one of the most real and hard working bands on the scene today. If you missed Friday's show you get another chance Saturday, and if you are anywhere near Boston and don't come out for the closing night at the Paradise this Saturday, you should probably spend the new year in a mental hospital, because you're clearly insane.
 

-Jo Problems-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

 
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