Imagine in the middle of the 20th century a tavern full of descendants of the Irish immigrants who fled the great famine of 1845, in the heart of California: with the strong wooden furniture, the sounds of the mugs full of root beer colliding with each other others; and all the Celtic paraphernalia of clovers and characteristic symbols of this culture framing red-haired, drunk and enthusiastic beards. It is there, particularly in the tavern 'Molly Malone's', where a group of individuals would come together to play as a variety of the establishment without imagining that they would become a true icon and legend of the music industry. We are of course talking about Flogging Molly.
Around 1993, the band got together and began to play rock strongly influenced by the characteristic sounds of Irish idiosyncrasy. The band has in Dave King his old 'Saint Patrick' of a thousand battles. The singer was born with a 4-leaf clover in his pocket for the music industry, since he can boast that since the mid-80's he was the singer of the heavy metal band Fastway, sharing alignment neither more nor less than with Eddie 'Fast' Clark (Motörhead) on the guitar and with Pete Way (UFO) on the bass.
The group becomes the variety of every Monday in the tavern, and with luck on their side, they attract the attention of the owner of the record label SideOneDummy Records, who got to have a drink right in the middle of his presentation. Amazed he decides to sign them and it is in the same tavern where they record their first album 'Alive Behind the Green Door', 1997. Rare, without a doubt, is that a band has a live album as their debut album, but this is just one of the many curiosities it has Flogging Molly to offer. The name of the band is a tribute and thanks to the pub that gave them a platform and launched them to stardom.
Swagger (2000) is, as such, the first studio album recorded by Flogging and becomes a sea of flattery for its exquisite combination of sounds punk and Oi! seasoned with folk traditional. 'The Worst Day Since Yesterday ' It becomes a topic known worldwide for its media exposure in both the Canadian television series Stragate: Universe, as for being the background music of that legendary bar fight in "Mr. and Ms. Smith ” of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. However, the real success came with his album 'Drunken Lulabillies' (2002), work that burst the scene with an unexpected 157th place in the charts from Billboard. The song with the same name on the album would become a hymn for lovers of celtic punk.
In 2004 Flogging Molly He launched 'While a Mile of Home '. An album cataloged as more mature and polished with a great presence of Irish sounds with the use of violas, cello and sound horns. 'Float' (2008) achieved over 48,000 copies sold in its first week of release. An album without a doubt with a lyrical load much more politically and musically a little further from the sound punk raw. In 2011 the band released 'Speed of Darkness' which was recorded in Echo Mountain, an old church converted into a studio.
The album was produced by Ryan Hewitt who has collaborated with people the size of Red Hot Chilli Peppers and would be released by Borstal Beat Records.
After this last launch, it would take almost five years for Flogging Molly again to give signs of new material. 'The Hand of John L. Sullivan ', In memory of the famous Irish boxer, it would be the single that would put the Celts on the musical map again in March 2016, and later in 2017 release what is now their last album 'Good Memories', the first with Mike Alonso debuting on drums. This album embarks them on a tour where they tread different countries for the first time including Mexico, where we will have the fortune to enjoy this legend on October 14th at Lunario of the National Auditorium at CDMX. So do not forget your clover and after a good drink, attend to see this great band that will surely make you remember them forever. 