Three years ago I was DJing at the pill at Great Scott, two days after Patrick Kane scored an overtime goal in Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals that gave his Chicago Blackhawks the series win over the Philadelphia Flyers. I knew Flyers mega-fan Paul Driscoll, then of WFNX and now of RadioBDC, was in the room hanging out and having a beer.
So I decided to rub in the Philly loss by spinning the Blackhawks’ rowdy goal and victory song, a 2006 semi-hit called “Chelsea Dagger” by Scottish indie rock band the Fratellis. It wasn’t out of the ordinary — we’d spin it occasionally when it was released a few years earlier.
Roughly 20 seconds in, however, a PBR can whizzed across the dance floor and smashed into the brick wall behind me, missing my face by about a foot. Driscoll was pissed.
Hearing “Chelsea Dagger” over the next fortnight should elicit a similar reaction from fans of the Boston Bruins, who face off tonight against the ‘Hawks in Chicago for Game 1 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals. Every fucking time the Blackhawks score a goal — whether it be Kane, or Jonathan Toews, or Patrick Sharp, whoever — the Madhouse on Madison, the United Center, will blare that song until your black and gold ears bleed.
And they fire it up again after every home victory.
It’s an unlikely choice for a team song, as the Fratellis, a trio that take their name from the criminal family in The Goonies, gained some popularity around 2006 with the release of debut record Costello Music. Before the Hawks adopted “Chelsea Dagger” a few years ago, they were only really known in stateside for their other song, “Flathead,” which appeared in an iPod commercial.
The track also appeared in am Amstel Light campaign around 2008, and outside the US, “Chelsea Dagger” is an arena and stadium favorite. Says wiki: “Chelsea Dagger” has been played over stadium sound systems before and after many football matches, and has frequently been played at other sporting events as well. League One side Yeovil Town play the song after a goal is scored at their stadium Huish Park. Since moving to the Juventus Stadium in 2011, Italian Serie A side Juventus F.C. does the same, as does Scottish First Division outfit Raith Rovers. English Championship side Nottingham Forest, who have used it for quite sometime as well as Perth Glory in the Australian Hyundai A-League.
For the next few weeks, however, it’s going to be the most hated song in Boston, and bound to draw the ire of Bruins fans from Allston to Amherst. And if you’re a DJ, avoid spinning it at your party — you might get hit with a flying PBR can.
Go Bruins.