Flogging Molly
Leader Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA
1 July 2022
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After a five-year gap in releases, venerable Celtic folk-punk outfit Flogging Molly are set to return in late 2022 with their seventh studio record, Anthem. In advance of the August release, they’ve taken to the road with a substantial lineup to preview some of the new tracks as well as digging into their classic, well, anthems for massive crowds in outdoor arenas around the country. Joining Dave King and co. on the tour are The Skints, Tiger Army, and the Interrupters, the last of whom are co-headlining all the North American dates. The Skints run a wide gamut between dub reggae, ska, and all-out punk ragers, while Tiger Army brings west-coast psychobilly punkish vibes with an upright bass – as well as a cover of the classic Link Wray track ‘Rumble’. The Interrupters are an absolutely magnetic ska-punk fusion, guitarists constantly airborne (possibly the best use-case ever for wireless pickups), and vocalist Aimee “Interrupter” Allen is positively magnetic with a furious, wide-eyed delivery that finds her perched on the very edge of the stage, leaning over the crowd.
Taking the stage, Flogging Molly are a large seven-piece outfit with equal parts traditional and modern instrumentation: a fiddle, accordion, and electric banjo are balanced out by the traditional structure of guitar, bass, and drums, with King able to lean one way or the other at will on his acoustic. King cracks open a trademark Guinness early in the night and right away begins with ‘Drunken Lullabies’, the title track of their much-loved sophomore album. A couple songs later he quips, “This one’s for me!” - turns out it’s ‘Selfish Man’, one of the first-released Flogging Molly songs that captivated hearts and ears nearly a quarter-century ago. Speaking of the Guinness, next comes ‘These Times Have Got Me Drinking’, the lead single from Anthem. Released back in March, its sentiment has only become more relevant as 2022 has worn on. It begins with a forlorn vocal, sounding on the studio version like it’s trying to squeeze out of an ill-maintained phonograph, before a scratchy guitar stinger sees it explode into a seven-piece rush anchored by the banjo and bass while Bridget Regan’s fiddle sings over top.
It’s one of a few tracks previewed from the new disc throughout the night, second of which is the as-yet-unreleased ‘A Song of Liberty’, which King dedicates to the Irish diaspora and to the memory of the Easter Rising in 1916. ‘The Croppy Boy ‘98’ – that being 1798 – makes reference a similarly rebellious period of Irish history, although the tale told is much more personal, a classic recounting of heartbreak and betrayal. As in many of the band’s tunes, Mike Alonso provides a rolling drum beat, and the whole of it possesses traditional, shanty-like quality, which makes sense considering the seafaring history of Ireland, what with it being an island and all.
Around the middle of the evening, there’s a man in the crowd who’s holding up a sign with some check-boxes on it, completed ones for New York and Boston, with an empty slot for Dublin. The reverse reads “See you fucks in Dublin!” - to which the band are set to return after this leg of tour. Bassist Nathen Maxwell notices first and points it out to King, who cracks a smile and points him out to everyone. King is a real character as one might expect from a band such as this, lovably foul-mouthed and theatrical to the core – at one point during ‘Tobacco Island’ he untucks his long-sleeved shirt, wiggles its newly-liberated tails a bit, and then during an instrumental break does a high-kicking dance at each end of the stage.
Maxwell tightens accordionist Matt Hensley’s straps for him and the band moves into another early-period rouser, ‘Devil’s Dance Floor’, which features Regan on the tin whistle, a small type of flute. Before ‘If I Ever Leave This World Alive’, King pauses for a moment and dedicates the song to Al Barr of the Dropkick Murphys, as well as his mom, whom King says Barr is currently caring for at home. King starts the song solo on his acoustic guitar, but it evolves into a huge sing-along by the end. After evergreen hit ‘What’s Left of the Flag’, he summons the crowd in all singing a ‘D’ note together, sustaining it under the orangey lights of the pavilion, before closing the night with ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’. As has been true for the whole evening, everyone is joined together in song. The convivial atmosphere of a Flogging Molly show [my first, as it happens] is undeniably powerful – these songs, from the oldest to most recent, were truly meant to be sung along to, beers in hand, swaying side to side with old friends and new.
⟢ genre + warnings: roommates to lovers au || nsfw 18+ smut & fluff; mentions of yoongi x reader & tae x reader, jealousy, Daddy kink, explicit sex: masturbation, kissing, teasing, Daddy/Baby Girl, unprotected vaginal penetration, breast play, creampie, aftercare of the fluffiest kind
⟢ summary: a mishap with your vibrator turns your night around when your ‘Daddy’ makes an appearance
⟢ authors note: originally posted to twitter, i hope you enjoy!
“Fuck...”
“Yea, right there… mmm fuck.”
“OH~ yeah…ahhhh don’t stop, don’t stop...”
The door to your bedroom swung open harshly, your roommate annoyed with you.
“Y/N do you honestly have to be so goddamn LOUD?” Jin said, his voice growing wilder and louder as he continued speaking. “Some of us have work in the morning and would like to get some sleep but you—”
Jin freezes, hand still on the handle of your door as your wide eyes look back at him, both of you mirroring the same look of shock; him at seeing your dripping cunt exposed and you at being caught with your fingers buried deep within your walls. You had been touching yourself to memories of a couple weeks ago, and didn’t mean to be so loud, but...
Jin recovered quickly, his face morphing from one of shock to one of devilish plotting, and you cowered at his glowering eyes, though the way you clenched around your fingers let him know you weren’t scared. On the contrary, the gush of wetness that was paired with that clench let him know that you were reacting positively to it.
He stalked forward, throwing your door shut behind him as he approached, hands already pulling at the drawstring on his pants. Once loose, he released them and they pooled on your floor a few feet from the bed. He stepped out of them with ease, then took one hand and reached behind him, pulling his plain t-shirt off over his head & tossing it aside. Naked, he planted one knee on the edge of your bed, dominant hand moving to stroke his hardening cock.
You licked your lips subconsciously, and his eyes followed the path of your lips. He shook his hair from his eyesight, and smirked down at you; you had removed your fingers from your core, and he watched eagerly as your walls tightened their grip on air, desperate to be full.
“Having fun without Daddy?”
Your eyes grew wider, the knowledge that he remembered that drunken night a couple weeks ago when you threw your housewarming party sending a shiver down your spine.
Neither of you had brought up anything about that night in the past 2 weeks since. Until now. His dark eyes pierced yours, waiting for your answer.
“N-No, I was just--”
“Tsk, tsk, Y/N… You’re lying.” He gestures to your slick thighs and leaking center. “You can say whatever words you want, but your body tells another story.”
He brings his other knee onto the bed, moving himself to settle between your open thighs.
“Daddy doesn’t think you should have all the fun sweetheart, is it okay if Daddy takes a dip?” He asks sweetly, though his eyes glint with sin.
You nod, biting your bottom lip.
“Oh, baby, use your words..”
“I don’t mind..”
He drags the head of his cock from your clit to your opening, teasing you when he dips slightly into you and pulls back. You whine, wanting him to fill you.
“Baby girl, you want Daddy in you?”
“Please.”
He cocks his head to the side, patiently waiting.
“Please, Daddy.”
You grab fistfuls of the sheets beneath you at the onslaught of his penetration, back arching to lift you from the bed. You moan out his name, airy and tantalizing to his ears that causes his stroke to turn frenetic as he spirals towards climax. You were so tight and warm, he had wanted entrance between the apex of your thighs since the last time he was here, spellbound by the way your pussy cocooned him. He voiced as much, grunts of pleasure between the words of worship that fell from his lips praising the way you took him, the way you sounded, the way you felt.
“Daddy feels better than Tae & Yoongi?” he asked, a little jealousy slipping through as he remembers telling his guy friends about finally, 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 having sex with you, and 2 of them admit to having had you first.
“Yes, fuuuck, yes, you fuck me better than them..” you moan, fingers tugging at the hair at the base of his neck.
You could feel yourself ignite with the pull from your impending climax, the way your body became electrified from all the places your skin met his; fingers on your neck as he pulled your mouth to his, other hand exploring your womanly curves as he continued to fuck you into the mattress. His plump lips dragged across your neck and shoulder as his hands moved to your breasts, handfuls of you massaged and kneaded as he took his fill of you.
“Ji—fuck Daddy, I’m gonna cum..” you continue to meet him thrust for thrust, muscles locking up as you climb to orgasm with an urgency. He dips his head down to marry his mouth to your pert nipple as his hand travels farther south to apply circular pressure to your swollen clit. Seconds later you are no longer you, transcended to a state of blissful colors and feelings, soooo many feelings of pleasure and ecstasy.
Jin is following you, cries of your name tumble from his lips as your walls attempt to swallow him, his release a sticky and warm coating inside your womb. He collapses onto you, but gently, before pulling himself from where he is sheathed inside of you. Jin goes to your attached bathroom and returns with a warm washcloth to clean you up before he discards it and climbs back into the bed with you.
You snuggle into him, relishing the way he wraps you up with his arms and pulls you close. It’s quiet for a moment before he speaks, voice low and seductive despite him not trying for it to be.
“Y/N...”
“Jin...”
“What happened to Daddy?”
“Oh.. I thought that was just a drunken sex thing...”
He grumbles something under his breath and you open your eyes to look at him.
“Neither of us are drunk on whiskey this time, so no, it’s not just a drunken sex thing.”
“So what kind of thing is this?”
“What kind of thing do you want it to be?”
His eyes are drilling into your own, a glimmer of something… more.
“If I call you ‘Daddy’ outside of bed, will you sing me to sleep every night?”
He blushes, unaware that you had heard him singing that night after you had sex 2 weeks ago. He had stroked your hair as he sang to you, voice soft and lilting a beautiful melody.
You tilt his head to look you in the eyes, and make a face he can’t say no to, especially once you pout your bottom lip with a soft “please, daddy?”
He kisses away your pleas, agreeing to sing to you, though not if you call him daddy outside of bed, but if you introduce him to others as your boyfriend.
You smile, kissing his bee-stung lips and agree, cuddling further into your boyfriend’s arms as you drift off to his angelic voice.
