Woooooooooo!!! Another great tour invaded the DC area, unfortunately though, on a Thursday night. You’d think with a line-up like this, the show would have sold-out, but not only did it not do so, the crowd was incredibly quiet and restrained up until the DROPKICK MURPHYS took the stage. Regardless, I had a great fucking time, and was able to meet one of my all-time punk rock heroes, Lars Fredricksen, but I digress, so let’s get down to business.

Just a few past 7pm, REACH THE SKY took the stage to a half empty Nation, which definitely sucked since this is a band that clearly feeds off the crowd’s energy. But when you’re the opener on a grand tour, I guess this is what happens to you in some cities. Anyhow, the band played for just under 30 minutes, hitting many new tracks off their stellar new release, “”Friends, Lies, and the end of the world…”" as well as some old favorites from the hardcore classic album, “”So Far From Home.”" What can I say…I really, really like these guys, and vocalist Ian is a first class act, but it was rather painful for me to watch these guys give all they got to a mostly unappreciative crowd. Occaisonally a few of the DC faithful stirred up some pit-action, but overall, everything was pretty lame. The new RTS material sounded great, especially the first song off their new one, “”Let us be dammed,”" which is a real fire-starter. This was my sixth time seeing this band in the past two years, and each time is a pleasure, I just hope that eventually they will be able to headline their own national tour and get the crowd reaction they deserve…or maybe I just need to catch a few of their shows up in Boston.

LARS FREDRICKSEN & THE BASTARDS was the act that I was anticipating the most this evening, clearly due to my professed RANCID worshipping. Just the prospect of Lars and Tim writing a whole album of old-style street punk anthems relating to stories from their childhoods had me drooling. I had received the LARS & THE BASTARDS release earlier in the day, and it was some magical stuff. Hearing it live however was a totally different and awesome story. The band consists of Lars at lead vocals and guitar, backed by his little brother Craig, Big Jay Bastard, and drummer Scott (from the great ska band Hepcat). There was also a masked unnamed member of the band who helped control the sing-along parts with the crowd. Admittedly, with almost the entire crowd never hearing any of the band’s songs before, it was hard for them to get into it at first, but there were these moments of eerie silence between songs that should NEVER happen at a punk show. In response, Lars, the master showman, took the liberty of telling a few jokes and whatnot. It was one of the best sets by a non headliner that I have ever seen, and trust me, pick up their new disc ASAP! It’s very much like “”Let’s Go”" era RANCID with a huge classic rock influence (minus the guitar solos).

The relative low point of the show for me was definitely the SWINGIN’ UTTERS. Although I am a fan of this band, although not quite a rabid one, these guys came on stage extremely drunk, and with a “”I don’t give a fuck”" attitude. From the moment the band started, Johnny Peebucks seemed that he just wanted to go on stage, perform their 30 minutes and then get the heck outta there…Fortunately, the crowd began to warm up a bit, and halfway through their set, the UTTERS came alive where their ferocious street-punk attack. The band played songs almost exclusively off of their FAT releases, and although I wanted to hear some of the older stuff, particularly off the New Red Archives label, I was satisfied with the tunes from what I believe is their best release, “”A Juvenile Product of the Working Class.”" Hearing “”Windspitting Punk,”" and “”Next in Line,”" for the first time in a few years was pretty cool. One of the funniest things during their set however was that both Johhny, Darius and Spike, found some way to wrap their cords around the mic stand resulting in one crazy mess, limiting each member only a few feet of room to move around. It was rather humorous – and I got to watch the stage crew dismantle the mess afterwards, which took almost 20 minutes to unwind! Not quite a mindblowing set, but a good enough warm up for the almightly DROPKICK.

For ten minutes strong, the crowd chanted, “”Let’s Go Murphys!”" only increasing the energy in the venue for what was about to explode. Ever since the song “”Barroom Hero”" debuted on the first Give Em The Boot Compilation, people have flocked to this band in droves, positioning them to be one of the most successful and popular punk bands currently roaming the US, and slowly notching up their way on the ladder of becoming legendary. Any skeptic would have been at a loss for words after witnessing the insane set by this band at this show. With a TV crew (for what???) filming the hour plus long ordeal, and the crowd just letting everything out, the seven members of the DROPKICK MURPHYS showed why they deserve every bit of accolade, commanding the evening’s entertainment with alarmingly precise control.

Ripping open the set with four straight tunes off their fabulous new one, “”Sing Loud, Sing Proud,”" hundreds of fists were pumped, vocal chords were shredded and so on…”"For Boston,”" is one heck of an opening tune. With Al Barr and Ken Casey leading the verbal attack, it was all out chaos. Ken kept the crowd in check by antagonizing the DC group with degrading remarks about the Washington Capitals. It made me kinda glad I’m an Islanders fan (oh wait…ouch). I swear, the roof of the Nation was ready to fly off during the rendition of “”Barroom Hero,”" and the same feeling came again during “”The Gang’s All Here.”" Highlights to the set otherwise included the use of Spicy McHaggis, the band’s 18 year old wonder on the Bagpipes, and Ryan Foltz’s spectacular plays of the mandolin, tin whistle and dulcimer (at a punk show!!!). Watching the band’s newest, and youngest member, Marc Orrel, all of 17 play the meanest accordian that I have ever seen was quite the thrill. After a brief break to set up the encore, once again returning to chants of “”Let’s Go Murphys,”" the band came out and closed up with a few final tracks, culminating in the classic, “”Skinhead on the MBTA.”" Wow…