This Sunday is of course St. Patrick’s Day, the one day where everyone is Irish. In Los Angeles, thousands will descend, as they have for the past three years, on the Hollywood Palladium to party and celebrate the wearing of the green with Flogging Molly, the L.A.-based band that has been marrying Celtic and traditional Irish music with a hard-edged punk sound for more than two decades.
This year, for the first time, Flogging Molly will team with influential L.A. radio station KROQ to throw a day-long party in the parking lot before the show. As lead singer Dave King told me, “Make a day of it.”
Though, to be clear, Flogging Molly is a band that far transcends one holiday, having crafted a career through two decades of powerful, heartfelt songs, lead singer Dave King was a gracious sport and agreed to discuss St. Patrick’s Day and all its traditions with me for this St. Patrick’s Day primer.
Here we discuss the essentials for a great St. Paddy’s Day party (Jameson is on the list), his St. Patrick’s Day memories, how the holiday has changed in Ireland from his childhood, being mistaken for a leprechaun, and how, as an Irishman, he had never heard of being pinched for not wearing green or “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” until he moved to the States.
Steve Baltin: How many years in a row have you done this St. Patrick’s Day show in L.A.?
Dave King: I think our fourth year. In the early days when we first started a lot around in L.A. on St. Patrick’s Day. But then we went to Phoenix for many years, 10 years I think. So this will be our fourth time doing it at the Palladium.
Baltin: And this year there’s a whole day with it. Give us a preview of the pre-party.
King: Yeah, KROQ and ourselves are putting on a little bit of an atmosphere where people can eat and drink and have a bit of fun. There will be bands on in the car park. There will be certain little outlets for people to enjoy themselves. Make a day of it, you might as well. And hopefully everybody will be sober enough to remember that we’re gonna be playing on stage. We’ll see.
Baltin: How has St. Patrick’s Day evolved for you over the years?
King: St. Patrick Day, growing up for as a kid in Ireland, was one of the most unexciting days on the planet. All it really meant was going to mass and seeing a parade in Dublin City and on O’Connell Street that really consisted of a couple of marching bands and that’s it. It was really uneventful. Then when I came to America that’s when I first realized people actually go kind of nuts on St. Patrick’s Day. What’s great about Ireland right now is with the influx of so many different communities and people from all over the world they really grasped it and turned it into a great celebration. But America was the first time I’d ever seen that and I never knew it was such a big thing. It was really weird. But there are so many shenanigans that go on. I think the last couple of years we’ve actually had a full-on bar onstage where we invite people from the audience. They win tickets or whatever to actually sit onstage in the bar while we’re playing. It was quite crazy. The backstage area was like I don’t know. Imagine all the madness of every bar in L.A. all in one place, that was it. And it was mental. It’s one of those things, like New Year’s, people tend to go out and really let themselves go. I think that’s one of the reasons why we did the thing with KROQ this year with the food and the fun and games, to make a day of it. It’s gonna be on a Sunday, so people will be off work hopefully and will be able to go out and join the festivities.
Baltin: What are some of your most vivid St. Patrick’s Day memories in L.A.?
King: I remember playing Molly Malone’s eight or nine in the morning with lines around the block and it was absolutely mental. Things like that never used to happen in Ireland. But now I think a big part of it in Ireland is there has been such a big influx of immigration into Ireland. And I think that has really spurred on this celebration of just Ireland itself. And I think the fact the church has taken such a backseat role now in how Ireland operates, I think people are celebrating that fact as well. As a child I never thought anything like that would ever happen. And now you’ve got a community where it’s so much more open. It’s a very liberal country, Ireland, right now.
Baltin: What are you most looking forward to Sunday?
King: I am here at the Palladium and to see all the people coming out and having a blast and to be a part of that is fantastic. Just to be a part of that is wonderful. I think the dance floor will always be the one thing that is just unbelievable. And especially at the Palladium. There won’t be just one dance floor going on. There will be five or six going on. And you never hear of anybody getting hurt or if anybody does fall they’re immediately picked up. It’s just the dance floor in the Palladium is epic. I think that’s the word for it. It’s pretty epic and we feed off that of course. It’s a celebration of not just being Irish, it’s a celebration that it’s okay to have fun.
Baltin: If you had one St. Patrick’s Day off what would be the ultimate music for you?
King: Unfortunately the bands that I would love to see are not really here anymore, bands like the Dubliners. I would have loved to have seen the Dubliners play on a St. Patrick’s Day. Of course the Pogues, Clancy Brothers, Planxty, the Bothy Band. There are so many great Irish bands. There’s also a great traditional band coming out of Ireland called Lankum. I’d love to see them. I would actually love to get them to America and play with us if we could.
Baltin: What do you want people coming to the show to know?
King: I want them to just come and let your hair down and put your dancing shoes on and just have a great old time. The world that we live in right now there’s not a lot to celebrate or have fun about and it doesn’t matter if it’s St. Patrick’s Day or not, I think people come to our shows already knowing that. It’s a no holds barred, forget about your troubles for a couple of hours and just listen to somebody else sing about their troubles (laughs).
Baltin: You will have Jameson and Guinness there. What are the essentials for a great St. Patrick’s Day party?
King: There’s always gonna be the intake of a little bit of the black and the gold, the Guinness and the Jameson I suppose. But it’s like the Day Of The Dead in Mexico. I think it’s a wonderful thing we celebrate a lot of festivals and they’re all to do with people who have immigrated to this country. I think it’s great that people have these days that they celebrate where they came from and just enjoy the day, that’s it. Cause you never know how many days we have left. I can’t believe we’ve been on the road now for over 20 years. It’s ridiculous. And I try to enjoy every minute of it. And if that one day is St. Patrick’s Day or whatever it is that people get out and enjoy themselves I’m so glad to be a part of that.
Baltin: Have you ever seen a leprechaun?
King: People have always accused me of being a leprechaun. I’m not quite sure. I think I don’t quite meet the height standards. I’ve met a few leprechauns in my day, let me tell you.
Baltin: And as an Irish person who moved to the States can you explain where the tradition of pinching someone for not wearing green comes from?
King: Not a clue. I haven’t a clue about that one whatsoever. Or “Kiss me, I’m Irish.” I’ve never heard of these things before.
Baltin: Having been on the road 20 years as you say is there one thing you enjoy the most at this point?
King: I’ll tell you, that’s a very interesting question because you can get mixed up in the whole whirlwind of being onstage and what’s going on or what goes behind the scenes, whatever. But I’ll tell you a story to wrap it up. While we were making our last album, Life Is Good, my mother passed away. She was 93 years of age and she didn’t really have a great life. She had a very, very hard life. Before she passed away she sat me and Bridget [Regan, wife/ band mate] down on her bed and she said to us, “You do me one favor before I go. Enjoy yourselves because I did.” That’s why we call the album Life Is Good.Because it’s not always good, but it’s what you make of it. And after 93 years of age my mother gave me the best piece of advice I ever got in my life. That was to enjoy it and do the best you can, and just have fun. I think it’s changed my philosophy in a lot of ways, in that way. I read so many stories of fellow musicians that have passed in the last couple of years and they’re not much older than me. And some of them are younger than me. And it’s terrifying that you never know. And I think to enjoy life no matter what and to appreciate life of course. But there’s no problem with going out and having some fun. I remember as a kid even though my mother had a hard life she made sure she had a great time as well. That’s what my philosophy on life is and I think St. Patrick’s Day is kind of a part of that. It’s a time for getting out there and letting yourself go for a little bit.
