UPDATE: For 2021, Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly and Murphy’s Law are all doing St. Patrick’s Day live streams.
PREVIOUSLY:
This is St. Patrick’s Day and there are literally no shows due to the coronavirus outbreak. But if you ever fancy seeing a show, or just need a brief distraction from the craziness of the world right now, luckily there’s YouTube which has an incredible range of live footage from all over the world. pop music history, from movie concert clips, TV performances, and other professionally shot footage, to tons of fan-shot videos from shows. Considering the day, we’ve picked out some of our favorite St. Patrick’s Day gigs. Look below.
The Pogues – Live At The Town And Country Club, London, St. Patrick’s Day 1988
After recently releasing their third album, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, The Pogues celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at the Town And Country Club in London and brought along a number of their friends, including Kirsty MacColl (who made a duet with Shane MacGowan on “Fairytale of New York”), Joe Strummer for a version of “London Calling” and Lynval Golding of the Specials to sing “A Message to You and more”. It was a one-of-a-kind night that only the Pogues could have pulled off, ending with an audience singing “Wild Rover.” What show.
Dropkick Murphys @ Avalon Ballroom – St. Patrick’s Day, 2002
This is the first time in 24 years that the Dropkick Murphys won’t be performing a concert (to a live audience) for St. Patrick’s Day, but don’t forget you can stream their show without a live audience at 7 p.m. ET today. today. In the meantime, revisit this complete set from their heyday. This one was in 2002 (and released as an album), just between fan-favorite album releases Sing loudly, sing proudly! and Blackout, and Dropkick were on fire all night. The images are a bit grainy, but the endless energy has no trouble showing through.
The Flogging of Molly at the Greek Theater – 09/12/2009
Before streaming Dropkick later, dive into this great film-concert by another of Celtic punk’s most iconic bands, Flogging Molly (who also played every St. Patrick’s Day for over 20 years). Flogging Molly’s gigs never fail to be a blast – they have tons of musicians on stage, really strike the balance between punk energy and traditional instrumentation, and it’s impossible to be there and not not having a good time. Even on a screen in the comfort of your own home, the power of their broadcast is felt.
Update: Flogging Molly also shared a fireside acoustic video for St. Patrick’s Day.
The Undertones – Live on Follies, 3/29/1980
One of Northern Ireland’s biggest bands, The Undertones, played powerpop with punk energy and, in 1980, when this Belgian TV performance was taped, had an endless supply of agonizing love songs at their fingertips. tomorrow. Follies catches them at the peak of their powers, ripping through 10 songs in about 25 minutes, including “Hard Luck”, “Teenage Kicks”, “Jimmy Jimmy”, “My Perfect Cousin”, “You Got My Number”, “The Way Girls Talk”, “More Songs About Chocolate and Girls” and the title track of their soon to be released second album, hypnotized.
Thin Lizzy at the National Stadium in Dublin, 1975
One of the greatest and most influential rock bands of all time was born in Ireland in 1969. Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott sadly left this land aged 36 in 1986, but luckily, footage like this exists so we can all study up high. Filmed at the National Stadium in Dublin in 1975, this massive concert was released on DVD in 2012, but can be viewed here and now (in two parts) thanks to the magic of YouTube.
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For more of our favorite live videos, head here.
