Boston Celtic punk band the Dropkick Murphys were less than happy during their recent stop in New York after a fan started flashing the Nazi salute.
The band were performing a cover of the AC/DC classic “TNT,” which has the band chanting “oi, oi, oi” during the intro. Oi is a term associated with skinhead culture, which is often thought to be aligned with Nazism and racism. The stage was full of fans chanting the lyrics.
During the performance a fan started thrusting his hand in the air in a Nazi salute and the band stopped playing. Bassist and singer Ken Casey reportedly shoved the fan, while another band member announced that “Nazis are not f**king welcome at a Dropkick Murphys show.” The offending audience member was eventually ejected and the band continued with the show.
Skinhead culture, and the perhaps out-dated idea that skinhead must equal racist, was in the news last week when a punk festival in L.A. was cancelled at the last minute due to concerns over “the skinhead element.” In this case, several bands performing were considered skinhead and the venue, The Echo, felt that they would bring a rough and racist crowd.
However, a recent LA Weekly article pointed out that they found “the skinhead scene in Los Angeles is non-racist and overwhelmingly Latino.” They went on to say that skinheads referred to racist skins as “boneheads.”
