The real marquee character is the Flogging Molly audience, to which the DVD live tracks and accompanying soundtrack are dedicated.

Jim Dziura’s DVD/full-length accompanying soundtrack Whiskey on a Sunday follows Irish folk punk rockers Flogging Molly from Irish Night of a Swiss festival, into the studio for finishing touches on the album Within a Mile of Home, to a round-robin interview session, which proves much as group therapy as it does as a creative and critical introduction to one of the hardest working bands in show business. Whiskey on a Sunday shows that James Brown has nothing on Flogging Molly, as the film glances at a vulnerable, exhausted band in the recording process on the eve of embarkation on an even more exhaustive Warped Tour. The DVD also induces flashes of nostalgia, as Flogging Molly members step into the streets of Los Angeles for a roots bar tour.

Spliced in-between live favorites “Tobacco Island,” “The Likes of You Again,” “Within a Mile of Home,” and “Swagger,” most of which was recorded at L.A.’s Wiltern Theater, master Irish conversationalist and Flogging Molly founder/lead singer Dave King relates the birth of his band and his interest in music through a montage of family album snapshots and a birthplace visit to Beggar’s Bush, Ireland. Whiskey also skims the backstory of King’s industry introduction as a member of late ’80s metal band Fastway, where early fame raised the kid from Beggar’s Bush “from famine to feast.”

Roundtable confessions recount the construction of Flogging Molly camaraderie and chemistry: from bassist Nathan Maxwell’s recollection as a 17-year-old fan who snuck into seeing an early version of Flogging Molly only to be be asked to join, to accordionist Matt Hensley’s 40-beer verbal audition, to mandolin fill-in Bob Schmidt who never left the band, to drummer George Schwindt’s tireless organizational tweaking of Flogging Molly’s business side. It’s this chemistry, along with dedicated support and unadulterated trust from Side One Dummy label execs, that King has always thrived on; he fondly recalls that many of the members never auditioned, but were “fated” to join the band.

But the real marquee character is the Flogging Molly audience, to which the DVD live tracks and accompanying soundtrack are dedicated. “There is a bond between us and them,” King says in the film. Worldwide audience energy has followed Flogging Molly, from its humble barroom beer-swilling beginnings over a decade ago, to the current festival, arena, theater, and (still) beer-swilling success of the recent Green 17 and Black 17 Tour which found them playing two shows nightly: one for all ages and one for the 21-plus crowd. Flogging Molly never wants to leave anyone behind, so they’ll work harder than they have to, and harder than the other acts out there. “Our fans are the kind of fans I’ve always wanted as a musician: loyal and very energetic,” says guitarist Dennis Casey. “The band’s live show sells it and people want to relive that when they come back to see us. But the expectations that they put upon us are no different than the expectations that we put upon ourselves. I’d never want to disappoint them, so we want to just give it to them every time.” Well said, and well documented.

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