Saints and Begorra! Flogging Molly Infects Rothbury

© AEG Live / Madison House

Flogging Molly at Rothbury 09

If you were near Rothbury, Michigan on July 3rd and considered dancing an Irish Jig (bonus points if you actually did) you might have been exposed to the cross-Atlantic airborne epidemic known as Flogging Molly. Symptoms include spontaneous Jig dancing, accelerated alcohol consumption, and just a bit of euphoria. 

Flogging Molly front-man Dave King is a little tall to be a leprechaun, but that doesn't stop him from packing on the mischief. He tells jokes that draw upon Irish stereotypes and performs songs that conjure almost every aspect of Irish culture, especially Roman Catholic doctrine. Above all, King knows how to give people a good time. 

If you were lucky enough to be at ROTHBURY or if you were able to catch the show right here on Rumbum.com, then you were a witness to the all the high jinks. During Flogging Molly's hour and fifteen minute set, the Ranch Area Stage erupted into the types of shenanigans one would expect to see during an Irish Pub crawl. There was genuine merriment passed from one Rothburian from the next, and anyone walking near the Ranch was immediately drawn in without a prayer of escaping. 

These seven "Rebels of the Secret Heart" are pros. They've been touring since they banded together in Los Angeles back in '97, and they're finally earning some acclaim. With over 500,000 units sold, this past June the RIAA awarded Flogging Molly with their first Certified Gold Record for their second album Drunken Lullabies.

Flogging Molly closed out their ROTHBURY debut show with "Seven Deadly Sins" a song from their third album, Within a Mile of Home and with it likely drove away any snake in a fifty-mile radius. (You're welcome ROTHBURY campers.) Sure enough, Flogging Molly is musical gold, the kind of which you might find at the end of a rainbow.