"NAZIS ARE NOT WELCOME AT A DROPKICK MURPHYS SHOW"

The Dropkick Murphys, for those of you who don't know them, are a Celtic-american punk rock band from Boston. I'm a big fan. 

 On their Facebook page they write:

In addition to hopefully bringing people together for a good time, we hope to share some of our experiences and beliefs in working class solidarity, friendship, loyalty and self- improvement as a means to bettering society.

The band has been influenced by punk bands like  Stiff Little Fingers, Swinging Utters, The Clash, and Sex Pistols, as well as Irish rock band The Pogues.  They also have been influenced by AC/DC and the Ramones. 

The band has over the years been involved with various working class causes and has been very supportive of unions and union workers.

From their "Worker's Song,"

Yeh, this one's for the workers who toil night and day
By hand and by brain to earn your pay
Who for centuries long past for no more than your bread
Have bled for your countries and counted your dead 

In the factories and mills, in the shipyards and mines
We've often been told to keep up with the times
For our skills are not needed, they've streamlined the job
And with sliderule and stopwatch our pride they have robbed 

We're the first ones to starve, we're the first ones to die
The first ones in line for that pie-in-the-sky
And we're always the last when the cream is shared out
For the worker is working when the fat cat's about

And when the sky darkens and the prospect is war
Who's given a gun and then pushed to the fore
And expected to die for the land of our birth
Though we've never owned one lousy handful of earth? 

All of these things the worker has done
From tilling the fields to carrying the gun
We've been yoked to the plough since time first began
And always expected to carry the can

The band is much beloved in the skinhead world as well.  Uh oh, you think skinhead and some of you think racists and nazis.  Not true.  Yes, there are racist skinheads and certainly there are nazi skinheads, but they are far from predominate on the scene and they are detested by the Murphys.  They demonstrated their anti-nazi feelings pretty clearly recently at a show in New York.

 The band which has no trouble with stage invasions and the like was surrounded on stage by fans  as they finished up an anti-white supremacist song.  Then band member Ken Casey spotted some bonehead giving a nazi salute.   Casey rushed over and gave the fool a bruising.  He bashed the nazi with his guitar before being separated by roadies as the man was tossed off stage..  Casey  took back the microphone and screamed "Nazis are not fucking welcome at a Dropkick Murphys show."

Now, the band has been threatened by nazis who say they will attack them when they show up soon for an Australian tour.

My guess is the Murphys are not shakin' in their boots.  My guess is any nazis who shows up at one of their shows in Australia will come away much the worse for wear.  Numerous punk boards contain comments from fans who are warning the nazis to stay away.  My guess is the nazis will heed that warning.  Nazis like a good fight where there are maybe twenty of them beating on one person.  They are seldom so "brave" when the odds are not quite so much in their favor.  

Meanwhile, Scission salutes this band and calls on all anti-racists to stand in solidarity with them.

The following is from our old friends at One People's Project.


AUSSIE BONEHEADS THREATEN DROPKICK MURPHYS AFTER BEATDOWN OF NAZI DURING NYC SHOW

Seriously, they really think they are going to beat down THIS band?

One People’s Project

A week after a video from a Dropkick Murphys show during St. Patrick’s Day weekend showing the bass player confronting a person doing a Nazi salute while on their stage and declaring that they will not tolerate Nazis at their show, the band posted a message on their Twitter account from a person reportedly from Australia warning that they may be attacked by neo-Nazis when they play a series of shows there.

“Fuck Drop Kick Murphy’s (sic),” the email from a person calling himself “Joe Smith” read. “You fucking interracial communist faggots. Be careful in Australia because there is (sic) plenty of neo nazis in Australia who would love to kick your ass, watch out Zionists.”

The email was dated March 21, just over a week since they played a show at Terminal 5 in New York City to a packed crowd. Known for inviting fans on stage as they play, when one of those persons began giving the Nazi salute to the crowd, bassist Ken Casey noticed him from the corner of his eye, confronted the person and an altercation ensued. Seconds later, Casey returned to his microphone and declared, “Nazis are not fucking welcome at a Dropkick Murphys show!” The video of the altercation has since gone viral.

Dropkick Murphys, who in recent years have been seeing mainstream success, have long been a staple in the underground music scene, and have a huge following among traditional skinheads, who, like the band, do not hold the neo-Nazi beliefs that many in the mainstream have been falsely led to believe is a part of skinhead culture. One of the band’s more popular songs is "Skinhead on the M.B.T.A.", which is about the working-class punks of Boston.

Despite this, neo-Nazis have been fans of the Boston-based band due to their promotion of their Irish culture and heritage, but a recent thread on Stormfront might suggest this recent incident changes everything. “All these homos did was place a big target on their backs,” a poster from Texas calling himself 14th District wrote. “The result will be some of their fans will get beat down, shows stopped and loss revenue.” Still, another poster did admonish the reputed neo-Nazi, saying, “As much as I don't like it, it was the guy's own fault for not being situationally aware.” Indeed, another poster recalls the band doing this to another neo-Nazi ten years ago.

Dropkick Murphys is expected to be in Australia this week.

THE VIDEO THAT STARTED IT ALL

ANOTHER DKM VIDEO FROM BACK IN THE DAY

Shot July 16, 1999 during the Warped Tour on Randall's Island in NYC by DLJ