Nationwide we haven’t had a Friday the 13th full moon since October 13th, 2000, and it won’t happen again until August 13th, 2049! It has been calculated that to have a full moon occur on the 13th day of a particular month, and for that day to be a Friday, it is on average a once in 20-year occurrence. Friday the 13th is considered by some superstitious people as an unlucky day, but to Denver music fans it was a lucky day that brought the split bill of Flogging Molly and Social Distortion to
The Mission Ballroom.
The Mission Ballroom, Denver’s newest music venue has been attracting some of the biggest names in the music industry like the Lumineers, Trombone Shorty, and Parliament with its almost 4,000 person capacity and state-of-the-art sound. The midsized venue is large but intimate. Perfect for bands like Flogging Molly and Social D who are too big for theater venues but still want to connect with the crowd which is hard to do at large arena shows. They say on St Patrick’s Day that everyone thinks they are Irish. I think it is also true of the audience at a Flogging Molly show. The crowd was boisterous, whiskey and beer flowed from the full service bars that were well staffed and friendly. I saw more than one alcohol infused jig on the general admission floor in front of the stage as Irish–American seven-piece band led by vocalist Dave King took to the stage and lit into the Celtic punk “Salty Dog.” My first three songs, no flash photo time in the pit included the aforementioned “Salty Dog,” “The Hand of John L. Sullivan,” and “Drunken Lullabies.” Done shooting the first act I explored the venue while enjoying the remainder of the set. Above the general admission area are balconies that extend the length of the walls on both sides of the stage. In the back of the room is stadium seating. No matter where I looked the site lines to the stage were clear, and the sound system carried the music evenly through the room. King shared vocal duties during the fifteen song set with bassist and Denver resident Nathan Maxwell, as well as with his wife Bridget Regan on the duet “A Prayer for Me in Silence.” On Friday the 13th, the thirteenth song of the set was the song that will be played at my wake “If I Ever Leave This World Alive.” The band finished with a sing along to Monty Python’s “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”
Next up was Social Distortion a band that was formed in 1978 in Orange County, California. Fronted by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Mike Ness the punk band in one form or another has been around for forty years. Four decades of drinking, poverty, love, and death provided plenty of material for the nights twelve song set. The current lineup of Ness, Jonny Wickersham (rhythm guitar & backing vocals), Brent Harding (bass & backing vocals), and David Hidalgo Jr., on drums opened up with “So Far Away,” from their self-titled album, “Through These Eyes,” and “Bad Luck.” My two favorite songs of the night were “Don’t Drag Me Down,” and the bands rendition of Johnny Cash’s, “Ring of Fire.” Ness and the boys finished the night with, “The Story of My Life.” The crowd milled around for a while after the last song, hoping for an encore that did not happen. Oh well, always leave them wanting more!
In the song “Bad Luck,” Mike Ness sings, “Thirteen’s my lucky number, / To you it means stay inside. / Black cat done crossed my path, / No reason to run and hide.” I feel bad for the people with Triskaidekaphobia, because they missed one hell of a split bill on Friday the 13th.
Energy: A+
Musicianship: A
Sound: A
Stage Presence: A
Set/Light Show: A
Overall: A
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