Flogging Molly

What makes a band truly remarkable? Insightful lyrics? Memorable melodies? Blow-your-mind live performances? The truth is that it takes all of those things along with a boundless enthusiasm, an infectious energy and a supreme devotion to the fans. With this rare combination, a band may ascend past "good," - or even the record industry's Holy Grail, "marketable" - and reach sublime. Drawing on the hardships and joys of their own lives and a musical history ranging from old world Celtic to modern day punk rock, the seven members of Flogging Molly do just that, and they do it with a charm and an ease that makes them one of the most accessible bands performing today.
We're not a traditional band," explains Dublin born singer/songwriter, Dave King. "We are influenced by traditional music and inspired by it, and we put our own little twist on it.
Founded in Los Angeles in 1997 by the expatriate King, Flogging Molly got its start and its name from a local bar called Molly Malone's where the band played and grew and laid down the blueprint for its eventual success. As every member of Flogging Molly will emphatically explain, there were no predetermined expectations for the band's sound. From night to night playing to a packed house at Molly Malone's, the sound evolved organically. Traditional Celtic instruments like violin, mandolin and accordion blended seamlessly with grinding guitars and pounding drums. Without consciously attempting it, Flogging Molly merged the music of King's childhood in Dublin with the music of his adulthood in L.A.
"If it didn't have mandolin, accordion, fiddle and whistle, it would be punk rock, and if it didn't have guitar, bass and drums, it would be traditional Irish music," King admits, adding, "You can't be bothered being labeled."
With a sound anchored in such diverse influences and with band members ranging in age from their 20s to their 40s - a decidedly non-MTV-friendly demographical mix, Flogging Molly was not embraced by the mainstream music industry. The band simply didn't fit any preconceived notions of what a "successful" band was. Not deterred in the least, Flogging Molly embraced a Diy philosophy (that's "do-it-yourself" for those of you not in the know). Their amazing work ethic and rapidly growing fan base led them to DIY-style record label, Side One Dummy, and the two fit hand in glove.
In 2000, their Side One Dummy debut, Swagger, featuring the anthemic "The Likes of You Again" and "Black Friday Rule" along with the best ode to a hangover yet, "The Worst Day Since Yesterday" (which later found its way into the Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt film, Mr. and Mrs. Smith), obliterated initial expectations and sold over 50,000 copies before Flogging Molly headed back into the studio to record their 2002 follow up, Drunken Lullabies, which included instant classics like the rousing "Rebels of the Sacred Heart" and the doleful "The Son Never Shines (on Closed Doors)." 2004's Within a Mile of Home once more showcased the band's ability to play driving rock and roll on one track then slide effortlessly into lilting, pastoral harmonies on the next and contained a beautiful duet between King and Lucinda Williams on "Factory Girls."
Flogging Molly's latest album, Float, recorded in King's native Ireland, delivers still another iteration of the band's sonic evolution. More mature yet retaining the immediacy that marks all of their work, Float may find the widest audience acceptance of any Flogging Molly album. Hard charging tunes "Paddy's Lament" and "You Won't Make a Fool Out of Me" give way, as listeners have come to expect, to more sober ruminations on tracks like "Float." The overall effect is a symphonic layering of sound that possesses a unique rhythmic flow from boisterous to bereaved and back again. Long time fans and new discoverers will be equally astounded.
First, last and always a live band, Flogging Molly tours quite a bit more than the average group. On the road seemingly at all times, the band is a regular on the Warped Tour. Even still, their fans can't get enough. People traveled from all over the country to catch them playing with another Celtic-rock powerhouse, Dropkick Murphys, in Philadelphia in September 2007. Flogging Molly's annual Green 17 Tour begins 2008's St. Patrick's Day celebration on February 1st - because you can never get an early enough start on St. Patrick's Day - and will take the band to 30 cities for a total of 34 shows before it's over. For Flogging Molly, a bar band at heart, the contact with their fans is essential.
"I feel as good about meeting [the fans] as they feel about meeting me," says bassist Nathen Maxwell, "because they're just as happy as I am. They're just people like everybody else, and that's how I look at myself."
Spend 10 minutes in a room with the members of Flogging Molly, and you will have no doubt about their passion for their music. As mandolin and banjo player Bob Schmidt describes it, "We're deadly serious about what we do. As much as it's a good time and a fun thing, it's no joke to us." Guitarist Dennis Casey echoes that sentiment, saying, "I just give it all I've got because I just believe in it that much."
Flogging Molly isn't a mere band, they're a seven member nuclear family. They are as devoted to one another as they are to the music they create. It's no wonder their extended family - the legion of loyal Flogging Molly fans - keeps growing every day. Important Please READ
This event has moved from Mesa Amphitheatre to Tempe Beach Park and is now a 21 and over event. An additional date has been added, March 16th, at The Marquee that will be an All Ages event. The March 17th show at Tempe Beach Park is a Rain Or Shine Event.
PATRONS 21 And OVER
Tickets purchased by patrons 21 and over for Mesa Amp can be used on either date at either venue or you can receive a refund if they choose. If you choose to use your tickets at Tempe Beach Park, all members of your party must be 21 or over to be allowed entry.
PATRONS Under 21
Patrons under the age of 21 can use their Mesa Amp tickets to see the show at The Marquee on March 16 only or receive a refund if desired.
REFUNDS
Refunds are available at point of purchase. More info call the Mesa Amp Box Office at #480-644-2560.
VIP Section For March 17th Tempe Beach Park Event
a limited number of VIP tickets will be available for this event. These spots are limited and on a first come first serve basis. The VIP section is a reserved standing room only area by the stage, and patrons who purchase VIP tickets will be given entry to the event through the VIP entrance. Food and drink will also be proivded. For more info on the VIP seating please visit www.theedge1039.com . Tickets purchased for Mesa Amp will not be honored at the VIP section, if you would like tickets to this section you will need to get a refund and then buy them either online or at The Marquee Box Office.
FLOGGING Molly BIO
For Dave King, the Dublin-born singer/guitarist/songwriter of SideOneDummy recording group Flogging Molly, the band's third studio album, Within a Mile of Home, brings him back to his childhood and the traditional Irish music he grew up with. With the help of his Flogging Molly compatriots and producer Ted Hutt, Within a Mile of Home has finally taken King full circle, back to his roots, and oh what a journey it has been.
"My family would go to the pub and gather up people to come back to the house to play tin whistle, mandolin, fiddle and spoons, with my mom on piano and my uncle on accordion," he reminisces. "But I wanted to run away from that. As you get older, you want to pick up electric guitars and play loud. You rebel against those traditional elements." So Dave hit the road and did just that.
King began his musical career as a member of Fastway, teaming up with Motorhead guitarist Eddie Clarke in the late '80s, having played New York's Madison Square Garden and L.A.'s Great Western Forum, only to eventually find himself scrubbing the toilets of ghetto clubs where he performed with just an acoustic guitar. For the musician, who originally came to L.A. from London in 1989 at the invitation of legendary Geffen A and R exec John David Kalodner to be in a band called Katmandu, it wasn't until forming Flogging Molly that he began to write and play "for myself and no one else." These days, he insists, he is right where he wants to be.
Recorded at L.A.'s Cello Studios and Hollywood Sound, Flogging Molly's new album fuses the traditional music of King's youth with the feverish punk-rock of bands like Stiff Little Fingers, the Pogues, the Undertones and Dropkick Murphys, not to mention seminal influences like the Clash, U2, and David Bowie. Songs like the speeded-up martial punk of "Screaming at the Wailing Wall," a searing critique of Bush's warmongering in the name of God, co-exist with the timeless English pastoral folk of "Factory Girls." The latter, reminiscent of Fairport Convention or Richard and Linda Thompson, features a duet with King and acclaimed singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams.
"We've developed a really unique sound," says King of his seven-piece outfit. "The first time we all got together to play, there was an energy in the room that I'd never experienced in any other band I'd ever been in? and it wasn't due to any single ingredient, instrument or individual. We started playing in a bar and just played and played and played. We're a live band. We'll always have that."
The band's fabled energy and presence can be heard loud and clear on the band's new album, which follows 2000's Swagger and 2002's Drunken Lullabies. Their unique sound has enabled Flogging Molly to entrance crowds of all ages at four of the last five Warped tours, where they have played for 10,000 fans on a nightly basis.
Describing the band's unique melting pot, King has said, "If it didn't have mandolin, accordion, fiddle and whistle, it would be punk-rock, and if it didn't have guitar, bass and drums, it would be traditional Irish music. Flogging Molly has both."
For King and his mates, playing music is more than a livelihood; it is a living narrative of all that has influenced Dave throughout his life. On songs like "Tobacco Island," King describes the Irish being shipped to Barbados in the 17th century by British military leader Oliver Cromwell to work as slaves on the sugar plantations. "The Wanderlust" and "With a Wonder and a Wild Desire" also celebrate music's instrumental role in allowing the Irish to survive and maintain their tradition despite historical turmoil and struggle.
"Music was all we had left," explains King. "And no one could take that away from us. Even without vocals, if you have a tin whistle, a fiddle and a mandolin, the music still speaks volumes. It's the lyrics that help carry that message to a new generation."
You can hear that message on the Cajun fiddles and washboards of "Tomorrow Comes a Day Too Soon" or the tribal fever of bassist Nathen Maxwell's "Queen Anne's Revenge," where the music carries hope for the future without forgetting the past, or more importantly, marking the present. Elsewhere, King offers tributes to late heroes Joe Strummer, on the pirate-like sea chanty "The Seven Deadly Sins" ("Johnny strummed his Tommy gun"), and Johnny Cash, on the soulful "Don't Let Me Die Wondering," where King's vow to live life to its fullest was influenced by the passing of the Man in Black.
"I started writing that song when I heard Johnny Cash had died," King says of the tune, composed, as always, on a typewriter manufactured in 1916, the year of the Irish uprising. "There was a man who lived life to the fullest. I don't want to be wondering on my deathbed what I left behind. I want to leave nothing behind. I want to be ready to go to the next world - and enjoy life here at the same time."
In "To Youth (My Sweet Roisin Dubh) - Roisin Dubh is Irish for "Black Rose, the traditional name for Ireland - King delivers a moving tribute to his homeland. The mournful tune, which could have come from the Middle Ages, is at once a look back to his father, a man who pumped gas for a living and died 30 years ago, and a glimpse into the future generations he performs for every night on the Warped tour.
"I'm finally doing what I love," King says, after describing the long path that he took before Flogging Molly allowed him the ability to infuse the traditional sounds of his youth with the punk-rock of his adulthood. "I'm singing about what I want to sing about and people want to listen." Don't expect Dave King to die still wondering.