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Watch: Dropkick Murphys surprise students with a performance at Dorchester Catholic school
Students and teachers went wild over the performance, which included “Rose Tattoo” and “Shipping Up to Boston.”
Students were jumping up and down, clapping their hands, and dancing as the Dropkick Murphys took center stage in the gym at Saint John Paul II Catholic Academy Columbia Campus on Thursday.
At the beginning of the performance, as shown in a video, Ken Casey — the lead singer of the legendary Boston-based Irish rock band — warned the students that they never played for a school before.
“This is a first for us,” said Casey. “So we’re very excited.”
In the surprise performance, the Dropkick Murphys played two songs, “Rose Tattoo” and “Shipping Up to Boston,” to a packed gym. On a small stage, the band plays tightly together with limited microphones.
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But the subdued setup did nothing to dampen the students’ and teachers’ excitement.
As the band sang, “I’m shipping up to Boston,” the audience replied, “Wo-ho-ho,” as the students bobbed their heads and danced along.
Even though the performance was nothing compared to the crowd at TD Garden, the band admits they were still nervous beforehand.
“As we stood offstage nervously wondering what it would be like to play to students from kindergarten to 12th grade, we contemplated pulling the fire alarm,” said Casey in a statement to Boston.com.
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But, in the end, he said, “It was a lot of fun playing for the kids. It brought back memories of being a young kid in Catholic school and how happy I was to get out of class to go to the gym or an assembly.”
“Rose Tattoo”:
How did this happen?
Vice-Principal Timothy Ruggere said his wife, Debbie Ruggere, grew up with Casey in Milton. Even though they didn’t go to the same school, they would hang out after school at Kelly Field. Around 13 years ago, his wife ran into Casey at the bakery where she worked, reigniting a childhood friendship.
With Heritage Night coming up at the school, where the students celebrate where they come from, his wife, who is 100% Irish, wondered if Casey would play.
She called him up and he said he could squeeze it in even though the band was juggling a busy touring schedule in May and June. After some scheduling talks, they finally figured they could drop by at around 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 30.
The Dropkick Murphys showed up, did a sound check with a couple of mic stands on the gym’s stage, and then played for the students.
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“Shipping Up to Boston”:
Neither the students nor the teachers knew the band was stopping by.
Dropkick Murphys:
Ruggere admitted that the students have probably never heard of Dropkick Murphys, who are more of Ruggere’s generation.
“They are not wildly popular with middle school and younger kids,” said Ruggere. “But the energy they put off was amazing. The kids had a ball.”
After the performance, Ruggere texted Casey, “Oh, by the way, the kids were singing your song ‘Shipping Up to Boston’ after school at dismissal.”
“I thought that was really sweet,” said Ruggere.
Casey texted back, saying, “I think we enjoyed it as much as the kids did.”
The band wasn’t expecting to have as much fun playing for the students. Ruggere said.
“It was great for us to see the kids have so much fun because they deserve it,” said Ruggere. “They’re great kids. We have awesome kids and great families. It was a really fun time for everybody.”
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