Following Mike McColgan’s music after his Do or Die days with the Dropkick Murphys and through the very beginnings of the Street Dogs, this was my first time being able to experience the band live. I couldn’t have picked a better night to go see them. They had just come off of a night at The Wiltern in Los Angeles and had decided to come out to Corona instead of playing a second night in LA. The Corona Showcase Theatre was perfect for what would be a much more intimate and powerful show that I was more than privileged to attend.
As the Street Dogs hit the stage they immediately got the crowd singing with “Not Without A Purpose” and “Common People” from their latest release Fading American Dream and showed that they were in Corona full force and ready to set the energy level to the max. As the band blew through songs covering their entire catalog, Mike McColgan’s performance was spot on in every way possible. It still amazes me how much heart and energy that man put into his vocal performance through every song. I must say that one of the highlights of the night was when the band broke into “Final Transmission”. Mike got down off of the stage and into the crowd to include them in a very powerful few minutes as everyone sang their hearts out. It was one of the most poignant moments that I have ever experienced at a concert. You could feel the emotion being poured into the song as Mike and the crowd belted out the words to the ballad of war.
Without missing a beat the band picked up with what will surely become a staple in “Katie Bar The Door”, a song that demands the crowd to sing back every word with its especially catchy chorus that could easily become a pub song. The band followed up by taking a request from the crowd for “2 Bottles”, one that they admitted they hadn’t played live in quite some time. It is easily one of my favorite songs from their debut record Savin Hill, so it was more than a treat to see the acoustic driven song performed to a crowd that was more than willing to give up their voices, singing back every word. The Street Dogs wrapped the night up with a few tracks from their first record Savin Hill, including the title track and “Borstal Breakout (Boston Version)”, which included the crowd on stage to help finish out the night.
To say the least I was absolutely blown away by the show that the Street Dogs put on. Covering all three of their records with ease and giving a prime example of how much heart and energy should be put into a performance every night. Simply put, they have raised the bar in what I expect to be given by a band through their show. After seeing the Dropkick Murphys and then the Street Dogs within two weeks, I can say with full confidence that there is definitely something in the “Dirty Water” up in Boston that supplies these men with the heart and energy that they put into their music.
