Flogging Molly will bring new music to its St. Patrick’s Day party in LA

For more than two decades, Los Angeles-based Irish rock band Flogging Molly have celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in or near its hometown. There are a few exceptions as touring has taken the group elsewhere for a year or two, the pandemic shutdown its 2020 party and a livestreaming event from Ireland happened in 2021.

In 2022, the group released its seventh studio album, “Anthem,” and they’ve been out on tour to support it ever since. The band is currently out with Anti-Flag and Skinny Lister and will return to L.A. to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year at the Hollywood Palladium on March 17 and continue the holiday weekend with a show at Riverside Municipal Auditorium on March 18.

The road has always been a second home to the seven members of Flogging Molly, who have steadily built a large following and stable career the old-fashioned way – by touring and word of mouth raves about their highly-entertaining and raucous live shows.

“I remember when we first started, I won’t mention the radio station, but they did a battle of the bands and they’d play four songs by four bands,” vocalist-guitarist Dave King said during a phone interview. “Whoever had the most requests at the end of the week would be immediately put on their playlist. And we won hands down and they refused to play the song on the radio. Their excuse was ‘Well, it’s only your fans that are calling in.’ From then on, we knew we were never going to get any favors. There was nobody going to be going we’ll put you on the radio for this and that. That was never going to happen with Flogging Molly. Everything Flogging Molly had to do, with the help of our fans, we were going to have to do it ourselves.

“I feel very proud, to be honest,” he continued. “I think we all do. I think we’re very proud that we have done it the old way.”

The talk of the early days is appropriate, not only because Flogging Molly has reached the 25-year milestone, but because the band’s latest album marks a return to their roots in very tangible ways. It marks a reunion with producer Steve Albini, who recorded the first two Flogging Molly albums, 2000’s “Swagger” and 2002’s “Drunken Lullabies.”

The four studio albums that have followed have seen King, the band’s main songwriter, and the rest of Flogging Molly embrace a wider variety of tempos, instrumental settings and musical styles while retaining their Irish punk musical foundation.