with guest supports Mesa Cosa and Beans on Toast Quintessential Irish-American Celtic folk/punk band Flogging Molly is leaving California this April to once again dazzle Australia with their wild live performance tactics. Known for their distinctive fusion of traditional Irish music and often abrasive hard-hitting punk rock, their impassioned live show has won the hearts of many Aussies over the past two decades. They will continue in that vein, playing an assortment of shows in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. The social and political awareness that drives Flogging Molly’s music is never more prominent than in their latest release ‘Life Is Good’ – a strikingly powerful album that has arrived at a key time in our existence. Though many of the lyrics found in Flogging Molly tracks have been sparked by events vocalist Dave King’s youth - he seamlessly addresses themes of war-torn Ireland, his Father’s premature death, and his move to the United States as a child into the fold - there is a political commentary that hangs in the balance with ‘Life Is Good’, which just so happens to be their first full-length release since 2011’s Speed of Darkness. With 20 years of performing together under their belts, the music is mature, well crafted, equally polished and almost aggressively topical. It is filled with rousing songs that are timeless in their sentiment, but directly related to today’s most pressing concerns: politics, the economy, unemployment, planned boomtowns gone bust, immigration policies gone awry and much more. Taking cues from Irish folk acts such as The Dubliners and The Pogues, Flogging Molly have clear influences from the Emerald Isle in their music. With a plethora of instruments on stage - including acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bodhráns, violin, tin whistle, banjo, mandolin, accordion, piano, concertina, bass guitar, drums and percussion - their powerful live performance is sure to entertain audiences across Australia this April.