The Architects and Flogging Molly Celebrate St. Patrick's Day Early in Detroit

Saturday night the Fillmore Theatre in downtown Detroit saw the return of American celtic punk band Flogging Molly's annual Green 17 tour.

The tour is a hugely popular one due to the fact that it is wrapped around the Irish drinking holiday St. Patrick's Day.

This year's version of the tour started February 9 in Dallas and ends on St. Patrick's Day in Phoenix.

Saturday night's show at the Fillmore is the sixth time the band has brought the tour to Detroit, a city that frontman Dave King and his wife/fiddle player Bridget Regan call home when they are not in Ireland. Regan grew up in Detroit and much of her family attended last night's show.

Flogging Molly has a consistently wide array of fans and the assembled Detroit crowd was no different. Crowd watching is an event at one of the band's shows with people dressed as everything from pirates to leprechauns to punk rockers.

The show was sold out as evidenced by how tightly packed the Fillmore was throughout the evening, allowing little breathing room and lots of stepped on toes.

One of the openers, English folk/punk singer Frank Turner ended up being sick and had to pull out of the show so a local Flint band was brought on to take his place and the other opener, American rock band The Architects had their set extended.

The Architects, who are inspired by song writers like Johnny Cash and Tom Petty, put on a solid 45-minute set that did a great job of getting the crowd fired up.

The band had tons of energy and pulled out some hard-driven rebellious songs like "Reciprocity" and "Bastards At The Gate".

Frontman Brandon Phillips did a great job of summing up their songs by saying, "We have two types of songs: songs about drinking and songs about law enforcement."

Flogging Molly brought out a stage set-up that consisted of a pirate-ship backdrop illuminated by flourescent lights. The band took the stage after a lengthy instrumental introduction and immediately kicked into their brand of loud, rambunctious celtic punk rock with a lively chaotic set that touched on their entire catalogue.

The packed crowd, most of who were drunk by this point, were moshing, jumping, step dancing and singing along with all of the songs. Before long, the venue was full of strewn Guinness cups.

Flogging Molly has a fiery spirit that many bands lack and this shines through in their live set. The band belted out songs with a true sense of passion and joy.

Throughout the set, King spoke about his love for Detroit and his belief that the current economic hardships would be overcome. He also mentioned the infamous 8-Mile/Woodward area known for it's debauchery and then sheepishly looked around asking, "Whoops, did I say too much?"

The over two hour set included a small acoustic portion and three encores. Set highlights were fan favorites "Requiem For a Dying Song", "Float" and "Tobacco Island".

The band closed out their set with "Wrong Company", "Black Friday Rule" and "Seven Deadly Sins".

The seven-piece ensemble Flogging Molly has great chemistry and Saturday night they left a powerful, lasting impact on those lucky enough to see the show.