Drawing heavily from the Pogues (how could they not, really?), this seven piece aims for raucous and poignant (as with the anti-warsong King dedicated to the Middle East, saying that as an Irishman he understood war), and the raucous part is no small feat to pull of at 12:25pm. King's mid-tenor growly yelp really cuts through the noise and energizes the music, and he projects a confidence that draws people into the band, the way a good frontman should.

I can't recall the last time I looked back at the crowd and saw so much teeth during a concert. As soon as FM took the stage, a blanket of joy came crashing down upon the crowd, the dancing began immediately and scarcely let up for the entire show. People was jigging, skanking, banging, moshing, flailing, and there wasn't an ounce of reserve to be found anywhere. The show the night before was even better, but you gotta hand it to FM for getting people so excited so early in the afternoon.

FM's recorded output doesn't do justice to their live presence. They're much better than just any run of the mill mix of punk and Celtic, and they really deserve every single hand in the the air that they get.

-kern