While the overt theme was a celebration of all things Boston, down to a cameo by the Stanley Cup, a more subtle undercurrent connected the boisterous energy of punk to the sincerity of folk.
The punk-folk dynamic has long been present in the Dropkicks’ music, and this Fenway fest - a precursor to the Shamrock N Roll Festival traveling version of the show - reiterated the kinship between folk and punk starting with a set of Celtic music by Boston’s The Old Brigade on the side stage. The storytelling and musicality of the Brigade’s repertoire flowed seamlessly into the Street Dogs’ main stage kickoff.
That sort of complementary nature of the two stages was intact for the rest of the show. The grizzled howl of Chuck Ragan on the side stage echoed the street-smart bark of Bosstone Dickey Barrett. After turning in a mesmerizing side-stage set, the fiddle-fueled Parkington Sisters fit right in as main-stage accompanists backing the Dropkicks. And the Dropkicks broke down a series of songs into simple acoustic settings midway through their 90-minute set.
The Dropkicks played a set true to their nature. Bassist and singer Ken Casey mentioned that the band contemplated donning Red Sox jerseys, but then noted - as he and his mates stood on stage in traditional black T-shirts - that the crowd knew what it was getting into and needn’t be reminded of where the band’s loyalties lie.
The Dropkicks’ set list swung from the fresh - “Hang ’em High’’ and “Cruel’’ from the latest “Going Out in Style’’ - to the ancient (well, by punk standards) “Boys on the Docks’’ and “Barroom Hero.’’ “Barroom Hero’’ featured Mike McColgan, the original Dropkicks’ singer and now the Street Dogs’ frontman, dueting with Dropkicks’ singer Al Barr.
