[PREVIEW] Dropkick Murphys @ Commodore Ballroom

Shot by Dig Boston

Remember the last time the Dropkick Murphys played Vancouver?

June 2011, not even two weeks after the Boston Bruins shutout the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals at Rogers Arena. The city’s downtown core descended into riots mirroring the mayhem after ‘nucks’s loss in the 1994 finals, and the Irish punk septet were about to reignite the riotous fires that burnt out not even a fortnight prior.

Shot by Doug Kline

Setting foot on the Commodore Ballroom stage to Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” the beloved Celtic punkers were relentlessly booed, flipped off and pissed on by even their most diehard Vancouverite fans.

Of course, it didn’t help that they rubbed the win in our faces: The kickdrum bore the Bruins logo, almost every member was wearing something from the Boston hockey team, and what would normally have been a sea of Irish green at the merch booth was swapped out for black-and-yellow braggery.

But despite the, ahem, negative reaction from their B.C. fans, the Dropkick Murphys tore the freakin’ house down.

Two sold out nights, each with 25-song sets, with everyone belting out “Kiss Me, I’m Shitfaced” by the end of both shows. We may’ve told Ken Casey where to stick his poster of him holding the cup, but we still wanted to hear “The State of Massachusetts,” “Citizen C.I.A.” and “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” – and they delivered.

Shot by Brennan Schnell

The boys are back (cheap plug: their new album Signed and Sealed in Blood is out now) next Monday and Tuesday for another two-night stand, with tickets already gone for the first night. Given the three-year gap between visits up northwest, expect the Tuesday show to sell out before Monday night’s set is done.

New tunes will fill the Commodore both nights, but don’t think they’ll forget about songs like “The Warrior’s Code,” “Sunshine Highway” and “Fields of Athenry” – they’ll give us a good time at all costs.

Still, I’d count on a few words from them about the cup, and I’d count on Vancouverites uttering a few other words right back.

Tickets for Dropkick Murphys’ second Commodore show are on sale now.