Flogging Molly at Marquee Theatre

Los Angeles-based seven-piece Flogging Molly are an interesting mix of traditional Irish music and spunky punk rock. Former Fastway acoustic guitarist/frontman and Dublin native Dave King formed the band with fiddle player Bridget Regan, guitarist Dennis Casey, accordion player (and former pro skateboarder) Matt Hensley, bassist Nathen Maxwell, drummer George Schwindt, and mandolinist Bob Schmidt. Getting their start playing regularly at the L.A. bar Molly Malones, Flogging Molly eventually took their music to the road; their explosive and passionate live show was the heart of the band, after all, and they toured relentlessly around the world throughout their career. Their rowdy folk-rock punk revival sound has been compared to the likes of other Irish bands such as the Pogues and Black 47, but the raucous septet opted for its own unique brashness that defied genre lines.

Flogging Molly released their debut, Swagger, in March 2000 on Side One Dummy and followed up two years later with Drunken Lullabies. Crafting exuberant anthems to raise up a full Guinness to, King often used personal touchstones — such as his childhood in a war-torn Ireland, his father’s premature death, and an eight-year exile in the United States — for the band’s compelling lyrical content. Within a Mile of Home appeared in September 2004, and the band continued to hit the road hard in support. The DVD documentary Whiskey on a Sunday was issued in July 2006; it was a candid look at Flogging Molly as both a band and seven individuals, and came with a ten-song CD of acoustic and live tracks. In early 2007, as the group geared up for a U.S. headlining run, Hensley amicably departed to spend more time with his family.

In March 2007, Flogging Molly released the Complete Control Sessions EP. Their fourth studio album, Float, followed a year later. The band then hit the road, documenting the tour in 2010 with the release of Live at the Greek Theatre. Eventually they settled back into the studio with producer Ryan Hewitt, and the following year released their fifth album, Speed of Darkness. Prior to the recording, original drummer Schwindt was replaced by Mike Alonso, who had formerly played with King in the hard rock band Katmandu. Flogging Molly continued to tour over the next several years, and began curating their annual Salty Dog Cruise, which set sail each year over St. Patrick’s Day. They eventually returned to the studio, heading to Dublin to record their sixth album, Life Is Good, which was released in early 2017. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi

Russkaja play with Slavic clichés and melancholic minor melodies which then pick up speed again and invite you to dance. The beat of the so-called “Turbo Polka” with a Jamaican Ska-offbeat makes the people’s feet and souls celebrate, dance and happily forget all their woes.

Excursions into punk rock, metal and dub-step also make even lovers of the harder genres shake their heads. Upbeat powerful songs swing between countries, languages and cultures – High Speed Polka Ska Groove hits virtuoso dirt guitars. Gorgeous violins let the big bass baritone voice of lead singer Georgij Alexandowitsch Makazaria shine as bright as the stars. Since 2005 RUSSKAJA have been touring their modern and cosmopolitan Austro-Soviet roots.

Georgij Makazaria – voc / Lea-Sophie Fischer – violin / Nico Loro Ravenni – sax / H-G. Gutternigg – potete / Engel Mayr – guitar / Dima Miller – bass / Mario Stübler – drums /

Vandoliers are the next wave of Texas music. The six-piece Dallas-Fort Worth group channels all that makes this vast state unique: tradition, modernity, audacity, grit, and—of course—size. While tracking alongside the muddy path that country-punk bands like Old 97’s, Jason and the Scorchers, and the True Believers blazed in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Vandoliers define their own style; no one else is upending the genre quite like them.