Last Friday was a pretty normal night for most bar hoppers and clubbers
in Boston – not for children at Franciscan Children's Hospital. The local
bar, The Rack, held a function, attended by about 300 people, for the Boston
Bruins Alumni Charity organization to raise money for these ailing
children.
Billed on the event were silent and live auctions and the local Boston
bands, the Dropkick Murphys and Kicked in the Head (KITH).
The performances were intended to entertain those who wished to benefit
the sick children at the Franciscan Children’s Hospital. Both bands,
however,were playing to their atypical crowd of people. Due to some confusion
about the genre and attitude of music the Dropkick Murphys and KITH
represent,some bouncers started cracking down on what is viewed by fans as
status-quo behavior – dancing, singing and leaping onto the stage.
KITH played an average set, but the crowd -- mostly consisting of older
20-something women with martini glasses -- was a little shocked in the
start of the set due to the sound volume and blinding light set up.
After KITH, a chant went up around the building: “Let’s go Murphys.”
Everyone who was interested in seeing the band, crowded the stage and
those who were not, stood on the outside looking on. Despite not playing to
their signature crowd, 13 to 25 year-olds, the Dropkick Murhpys’ set was
highlyentertaining.
Late into the set, someone was pulled out of the crowd in a headlock
and thrown outside by about five bouncers. The unknown cause for removal of
the patron made the dancing crowd and band visibly uncomfortable.
Later, because of the heat, a few guys took off their dress shirts
revealing their undershirts. Management told them promptly told to put them back
on, or they would be removed from the event.
The band voiced concerns about the safety of the crowd and asked for
kinder treatment to anyone taken out of the show. After an hour set, the band
announced they were playing their last song. As the first couple notes
rang out everyone who was there knew the band’s last song would be,
“Skinhead on the MBTA”. A group of about ten jumped up onto the stage, some with a
little help from band members, to sing along with the band. The bar bouncers,
having no idea what was going, on started yanking people off the stage
-- violently in some cases.
For some reason, the bouncers had no idea this is commonplace at the
end of Dropkick Murphys show. The bouncers made their final mistake by
grabbing one of the younger members in the band and pulling him off stage. He tried
to tell them he was in the band and they replied with a headlock.
This is where the rest of the band realized what was going on and the
music and fun stopped and everyone grabbed the closest person to them. After
a shouting match, a couple of bouncers realized their mistake and
released him, and everyone took a step back. The band gathered their equipment
and started to pack everything up, a possible fight was averted and
charity-goers started to file out the doors.
Despite the uproar during the show, Nancy Hammerle, from WSHL,
Stonehill College’s student radio station, said, “The Dropkick Murphys raised the
roof of The Rack for the Bruins’ Charities on Friday night performing a
hard-driving and surprisingly full set of their trademark Celtic punk
tunes.
They introduced material from their forthcoming album, ‘Blackout,’
that totally satisfied the long-time Dropkicks’ fans present and got us all
even more stoked for the St. Patrick's weekend bash at Avalon.”
Before the bands performed, the evening was much calmer while
bartenders served drinks at the bar that was split up into two sections – VIP and
non-VIP. No celebrities were really seen, except a handful of Boston Bruin
players, past and present. Cam Neely and Ray Borque, Boston legends, also walked
through both sides of the event. P.J. Stock, a current Bruins player,
walked around both sides of the bar smiling, talking and stopping for
pictures, maintaining positive vibes for the serious cause throughout the Faneuil
Hall bar.
Matt Finkel, a middler computer science major at Northeastern, said,
“As
much as he plays the role of a tough guy on the ice, P.J. Stock was one
of
the friendliest people I've ever met.”
Once the auctions started, people were allowed to move back and forth from one side to the other, if they were bidding. Eight total items were
auctioned off for charity, the highest bid, $11,000, went to an
autographed picture of Bobby Orr. Others included free tickets to upcoming Dropkick
Murphys’ shows (which sold for $1,200) and spring training tickets for
next year’s Bruins season (which sold for over $2,500).
Shortly after the auction the bands started. When all was said and done the Franciscan Children's Hospital got some much needed money, the fans of the bands got a good show, and to their hopes, a couple out of control bouncers may have lost their jobs.
All Pictures Taken and Owned by Joshua M. Pratt and Matt Finkel
