Flogging Molly frontman Dave
King was plucked from a Dublin tenement building at 18 to sing for metal act
Fastway back in the ’80s. They slowed to a halt after several albums and King
fell out with his label when they suggested he change the lyrics of a song about
his dead father.
Since then he’s made music on
his own terms and achieved even greater success in this energetic Celtic-punk
septet that combines traditional Irish instrumentation (tin whistle, accordion,
fiddle, mandolin) with punk pace and passion. Though the subjects of King’s
songs can be quite pained, they’re strangely exultant, leavened by the music’s
power and enduring sense of hope and possibility. Several years ago King moved
from L.A. to Detroit, the familial home of his wife/fiddler Bridget Regan’s,
and last year they self-released their fifth album, Speed of Darkness.
It’s dedicated to the blue collar and “little people” racing to stay ahead of
encroaching shadows. We asked the band to give up five things they absolutely
love about Detroit, which is getting easier to do these days. —Chris Parker
5. Drinks at Bakers Keyboard
Lounge
4. An afternoon at the DIA
3. Red Wings at the Joe
2. Barbecue at Slow’s or
Shawarma at Bucharest
1. Friday nights at the Gaelic
League!
Flogging Molly, with the
Devil Makes Three, Friday, February 17. $25-$35/7pm.
This article appears in Feb 15-21, 2012.