With memories of a Guinness-soaked and whiskey-stained St. Patty’s Day probably still very fresh in most local punks minds, what could be a better weekend to welcome back the Celtic-fueled Dropkick Murphys to the Bay Area than this?

The Boston-based band that has been rocking audiences with its Irish influenced brand of punk rock since 1996 will be playing at San Francisco’s historic Warfield on Saturday night, their first local show since opening for the Sex Pistols last year at the same venue.

Continuing a steady touring schedule that has seen the band traversing the world since the release of their latest studio record, 2003’s “Blackout,” the Dropkick Murphys have also just released their first DVD, “On The Road With the Dropkick Murphys,” which features a full live concert taped on St. Patrick’s Day in Boston in 2002, a behind the scenes documentary taped on the 2003 Warped Tour, and a collection of all of the bands’ music videos.

For the uninitiated, the Dropkick Murphys have seamlessly melded the influences of traditional Celtic music, latter day Irish hooligans such as the legendary Pogues, and fused them with a high octane, no-nonsense approach to working-class punk rock.

On that last note, the Dropkick Murphys have vocally defined themselves as strongly aligned with unions, and the ideals of working-class solidarity. And they know and have a healthy respect for their history, as well. The title track of “Blackout” was actually a Woody Guthrie song that the late folk icon had penned the words to, but never wrote any music to accompany them. With the blessings of the Guthrie family, the Dropkick Murphys took these words, and wrote music as they saw fitting the lyrics that had spoken to them, even 50 years after first being put to paper.

On top of having such deep running convictions and politics, the Dropkick Murphys also put on one hell of a show—their gigs are like a raucous sing along at your neighborhood pub, everyone is encouraged to participate, and if you haven’t shouted your lungs out by the end of the night, well, maybe you should have had another pint of the black stuff.

Life on the road isn’t always what it seems to be from a fan’s point of view, however. The DVD shows a lot of the fun that can be had on tour—playing gigs, partying with your friends, seeing new places—but there’s also the side that isn’t so glamorous, the long drives between venues, the lack of sleep, and missing family back at home.

“You’re tired all the time when you’re on tour,” said Al Barr, the Dropkick Murphys’ lead singer, who was calling from Newcastle, England, after finishing a club gig earlier in the evening as part of their current European trek.
“It’s in and out, boom boom boom, that’s touring--you don’t have time to take a (sightseeing) tour, it would be nice, but that’s not touring, that’s a vacation.”

But that’s not to say that the band doesn’t love what they do—nothing could be further from the truth, just take a look at the footage on the DVD--its just that a whole lot of work goes on before they take the stage, the lights go out, and the roar of the crowd goes up.

The group has been constantly expanding its’ fan base over the years, entertaining and energizing audiences wherever they go—even in countries where English isn’t widely spoken.

“It’s amazing, I mean in England you don’t have the language barrier, but on the continent--Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and Holland, some of the countries we were at, they’re all singin’ along in broken English--its pretty funny, its good,” Barr said.

After finishing up the European leg of the tour, the Dropkick Murphys will return to their hometown of Boston for their annual string of St. Patrick’s Day concerts, which this year will include five shows in four days, and a special charity breakfast.

That means that the band will be playing roughly 140 songs in four days, for those keeping count on the hard working group.

It also means that since they’re playing to a hometown audience, a lot of family and friends come out to see them as well—which entails an additional set of concerns for band members.

“Let me paint you the picture—you’ve got 2,000 people coming in everyday, and hopefully enjoying themselves, and us playing to them, but behind the scenes what you have is six guys, one girl, and all their families show up that day, and their friends, all drunk,” laughed Barr. “And you’ve got to run around and make sure everybody is happy, imagine how fuckin’ insane that must be. Its insanity, but we love it, we do it every year, it’s a great time, I’m just sayin’ that we run around the whole time like chickens with our heads cut off.”

When the Dropkick Murphys come marching into town this Saturday, do yourself a favor and join the insanity—grab your friends, a few pints of Guinness, and be prepared to dance a jig, sing along, and party like the wild rover.

Dropkick Murphys
With Blood for Blood and Ducky Boys
Saturday, March 20
8 p.m.
The Warfield
982 Market St.
San Francisco
415-775-7723
$17.50