By Alex Pearl and Sam Fleury ’10
THE ROUNDUP

This last St. Patrick’s Day, Irish and non-Irish alike rejoiced as Flogging Molly, accompanied by three other bands in a concert denoted the “Green Seventeen,” made its way into town.

Festivity was in the air as concertgoers filed into the concert grounds in Tempe Beach Park.

Of the three supporting bands, the Keltic Cowboys were the first to take the stage, performing a handful of Irish Punk songs including a cover of one of Flogging Molly’s pieces.

Next up was Bullox, an Irish Punk band like Flogging Molly and the Keltic Cowboys. Their level of rock was impressive, although the most memorable moment in their set was the lead singer’s unbelievably rapid and nigh-flawless recitation of “Rattlin’ Bog.”

A slight put-off for Bollox was, however, that they repeatedly told the audience that Flogging Molly was set to play next, when in fact the situation was unfortunately quite different.

The third supporting band was the Canadian indie rock band Metric, which with its keyboarding, dancing, and “lyrics with feelings,” was wholly out of place.

The band members were good sports, though, managing to perform their songs and stay on stage despite the constant booing and intermittent thrown debris from the crowd. It just goes to show that you can’t stick an indie band in the midst of three other bands who only sing about drinking, fighting and sometimes sailing.

Needless to say, this combined with the heat to make the crowd a good deal less enthusiastic than they were when they began the concert.

After what seemed like an eternity, the sun went down and Metric left the stage. Flogging Molly then appeared on stage and promptly blew everyone’s socks off.

The crowd thrashed, mosh pits formed and shirts were removed and discarded. After a good long set including classics such as “Requiem for a Dying Song,”“Drunken Lullabies,” “Black Friday Rule” and “What’s Left of the Flag,” the band walked off-stage in typical “we’re waiting for an encore” fashion.

True to tradition, the lead singer returned onstage with a guitar and played “Devil’s Dance Floor” before the rest of the band returned and capped off the night with “Seven Deadly Sins.”

Overall, the night was rowdy, the crowd got rough-and-tumble and Flogging Molly made for the best way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this side of the Mississippi – or Ireland.