Friday, March 08, 2013

Band Announcement 3/8

We have a great entertainment committee here at Irish Fest. We're music fans, musicians, trad heads, rockers, a little bit of everything from the diddley-aye to the Dropkick. But passionate all about the performers we put on stage every Labor Day weekend. Today I'm turning the second in our 10 Days Of Tunes band announcements over to arguably the biggest pure music fan and without question the hardest rocker on our committee, Jeff Petrie. Jeff is also the first filter through which most of the bands we book go through on their their way to the stage, so he's a powerful dude. Today's band is one he found, fought for, and now presents to you:
"Take 2 parts PBR, 3 parts Guinness and throw in a shot of Irish Whiskey. Now add guitar, fiddle, accordion, drums and bass. What you end up with is a tasty glass of Whiskey of the Damned. Hailing from the beer-soaked shores of Milwaukee, this five-piece brings a fresh energy that's rare in today's Irish Punk music. Irish born singer and guitar player, Eoin McCarthy, leads the charge through raucous songs about drinkin', fightin' and good old fashioned hell raisin.' The line-up is rounded out with Gina Romantini on fiddle; Matt Schuetz on bass; Andrew David Weber on drums and various other instruments; and percussionist, and sometimes beer keg player, J Danger Wolf.

I have seen them compared to the usual suspects: you know, The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly. All are great bands, but I'm not going to compare them to any of those guys. That would be cliché as hell. It seems like every single Irish-influenced rock band is inevitably likened to "the Big Three" whether they sound like them or not. Trust me, this Irish Rock snob has heard it all. I get emails from every Irish band in existence, some probably not even from this planet or universe. While Whiskey of the Damned most certainly draws influence from many of the great Irish Punk bands who preceded them, they manage not to sound like a watered-down Flogging Molly impersonation. They have talent. Maybe they aren't virtuosos, but this ain't Turlough O'Carolan. This is rock music dammit! They will be injecting a much needed shot of Punk into this year's line-up. 

I saw them at the Record Bar about a year ago. I swear they just about blew the roof off the place. After a couple songs into their set, I wanted them at that year's Irish Fest right away. That didn't fly since we were of course going with a "Best of Kansas City Irish Fest" theme in honor of our 10 Year Anniversary. I didn't care; I wanted them anyway. Because I'm a rebel, baby! I like to go against the grain. I like to rock the boat. That's just how I roll, man. That's also why it's a good thing I am on a committee with seven other people. If it were only up to me, it would be all Irish Death Metal Polka every year. All that power would go to my head and I would become an unstoppable tyrant. No one needs that.

Oh well, this year I get my way--well, at least when it comes to this band. I'll be there to see them opening night at the Fest. You should be there too, especially if you are a fan of the whole Irish Punk thing. I'll be the tattooed one with the mohawk and the ring through the nose. Well, I'll be modestly tattooed anyway. With the size of my ears I don't think I could pull off the mohawk. And the ring through the nose, are you crazy? That would hurt like hell! Maybe I'll get another tattoo instead."
Thanks Jeff. And here they are, rocking you on a winter Friday like they will in 175 days on a hot Friday might at Irish Fest.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I've seen them and I like them. They remind me of a Pogues version of Flogging Murphy.