Mighty Mighty Bosstones/Flogging Molly
House of Blues, Los Angeles – October 2000

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There was a moment in last week’s show at Los Angeles’ House of Blues when Mighty Mighty Bosstones lead singer Dicky Barrett implored the crowd to face the VIP section of the house and, in a gesture of unity, give them the finger. The problem? It’s the same tired routine Barrett has been using at his shows for the past five years. So, what once was a spontaneous moment of abandon and rebellion has now become one more example of a band just going through the motions. It was robotic, insincere and symbolized everything that is wrong with the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, a band desperate for a rebirth.

In the Bosstones’ defense, the band had a strike against them before they ever hit the stage, as it seemed that a great majority of the crowd were there not to see the Bosstones, but rather to see the opening band, LA natives Flogging Molly (more on them later). But whereas the Bosstones of five years ago might have been able to win the crowd over with their relentless, rapid-fire approach, the Bosstones of today seemed content with playing the usual suspects and not much more.

And talk about starting on a low note, the Bosstones opened the show with a myriad of selections from their two most recent sub-standard releases, this year’s Pay Attention and 1997’s Let’s Face It. As those two albums represent the Bosstones’ depressing decent into the world of pop crossover, it wasn’t exactly the best way to get the crowd involved. In fact, the combination of “All Things Considered”, “So Sad To Say” and “One Million Reasons” prompted little more than some scattered yawns.

What’s most upsetting is that the Bosstones did show some glimpses of the brilliance that seems to have alluded them as of late. Old school favorites like “Someday I Suppose”, “Where’d You Go?” and “Kinder Words” were brief reminders that at one point, not so long ago, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones were a groundbreaking ska band that skillfully blended ska with punk, taking no prisoners in the process.

But as the Mighty Mighty Bosstones moved a step closer to self-imposed obscurity, another band moved closer to inevitable success. Flogging Molly might have been the opening band, but try telling that to the hundreds of beer drinking fans who treated them as if they were the headliner. (For those unfamiliar with Flogging Molly, a description is a bit difficult. Suffice to say, the band is cross between a traditional Irish band and Blink 182.) Playing songs from their brilliant debut, Swagger, the band managed to entertain the crowd more in their abbreviated set than the Bosstones could in more than an hour. In the end, perhaps the Bosstones should have been less concerned with those evil VIP’s and paid more attention to the band that stole the show right out from under them.

By: Jason Cahill