New York, NY (Top40 Charts) This summer, iconic punk rock bands
Dropkick Murphys and
Bad Religion will be co-headlining for the first time during their U.S. Summer Of Discontent Tour with openers The Mainliners from July 22 through August 17. Tickets for all shows go on sale February 20 at 10am local time here and here.
Dropkick Murphys vocalist and founder Ken Casey said, "We are so fired up to spend the summer with these legends. We plan to give people a great night out when we hit their town. Gonna be a blast!!" Tim Brennan from
Dropkick Murphys said, "Being able to tour with
Bad Religion is such an exciting thing for us. It's not everyday we get to rub elbows with a band that has that kind of legendary status and we are over the moon to hit the road with them."
Bad Religion singer Greg Graffin said, "Bringing together our two bands and our respective audiences should create an event of epic proportions. But most importantly, I look forward to the community of camaraderie and togetherness we will share with such talented fellow musicians and punk fans across the Nation. I can't wait!" Bad Religion's bassist Jay Bentley added, "You know, this has been a long time coming. We've shared the stage at plenty of festivals with Kenny and the guys, and I am genuinely excited to hit the road with the Dropkicks, finally. Their energy is infectious, and I'm looking forward to spending the summer with them. I think it's going to be a blast for us and our fans."
The
Dropkick Murphys and
Bad Religion co-headlining tour dates are as follows:
Tue., Jul. 22 - Spokane, WA BECU Live at Northern Quest
Wed., Jul. 23 - Bend, OR Hayden Homes Amphitheater
Thu., Jul. 24 - Tacoma, WA Dune Peninsula at Point Defiance Park
Sat., Jul. 26 - Reno, NV Grand Theatre at Grand
Sierra Resort
Tue., Jul. 29 - Oakland, CA Fox Theater
Wed., Jul. 30 - Sacramento, CA The Backyard
Fri., Aug. 1 - Pocatello, ID Portneuf Health
Trust Amphitheatre
Sat., Aug. 2 - Salt Lake City, UT The Union
Mon., Aug. 4 - Kansas City, MO Grinders
Tue., Aug. 5 - Indianapolis, IN Everwise Amphitheater at White River
State Park
Wed., Aug. 6 - Buffalo, NY Outer Harbor Live at Terminal B
Sun., Aug. 10 - Cleveland, OH Jacobs Pavilion
Wed., Aug. 13 - Asbury Park, NJ Stone Pony Summer Stage
Fri., Aug. 15 - Atlantic City, NJ Ovation Hall @ Ocean Casino
Sat., Aug. 16 - Gilford, NH BankNH Pavilion
Sun., Aug. 17 - Big Flats, NY Mich Ultra SummerStage At Tags
During the summer tour—which follows Dropkick Murphys' annual St. Patrick's Day Tour--fans will have the chance to hear Dropkick Murphys' classics, along with their current single "
Sirens" - and possibly other new songs from their next album, which will be released via the band's Dummy Luck
Music / [PIAS] later this year. Fueled by an infectious, hard-hitting guitar riff and frontman Ken Casey's raw, intense, and commanding vocals, "
Sirens" is a rallying cry for unity, urging fans to rise against those who exploit the working class.
Dropkick Murphys are: Ken Casey (lead vocals), Tim Brennan (guitars, tin whistle, accordion, piano, vocals), Jeff DaRosa (guitars, banjo, mandolin, vocals), Matt
Kelly (drums, percussion, and vocals),
James Lynch (guitars and vocals), and
Kevin Rheault (bass). Joining the band for their live shows is bagpiper and multi-instrumentalist Campbell Webster.
You can expect
Bad Religion to celebrate their diverse catalog on this tour. Concertgoers can look forward to a mix of iconic songs and beloved classics, highlighting their significant influence on the punk scene. At the same time,
Bad Religion is working on a new album, and this tour is likely to energize their creativity, drawing inspiration from the lively interactions with their audience. The current lineup, recognized as one of the strongest in the band's history, features Greg Graffin (vocals), Jay Bentley (bass), Brian Baker (guitar since '94), Mike Dimkich (guitar), and Jamie Miller (drums). With 17 studio albums to their credit, they have established a reputation for social awareness, while also being known as one of the most powerful live bands and lasting legends in the punk genre.
Dropkick Murphys proudly remain Boston's rock 'n' roll underdogs turned champions. Since 1996, the boys have created the kind of music that's meant to be chanted at last call, in packed arenas, and during the fourth quarter, third period, or ninth inning of a comeback rally. Their celebrated discography includes four consecutive Billboard top 10 album debuts (Turn Up That Dial, 11 Short Stories Of Pain & Glory, Signed and Sealed in Blood, Going Out In Style), along with 2005's Certified-Gold album The Warrior's Code featuring the double platinum classic "I'm Shipping Up To Boston."
Whether you caught a legendary gig at The Rathskeller (The Rat) under Kenmore Square, found the band by taking the T to Newbury Comics to cop Do Or Die in '98, discovered them in
Martin Scorsese's Academy Award winning The Departed, or saw 'em throw down at Coachella (or one of hundreds of other festivals), you've become a part of their extended family. Dropkick Murphys' music has generated half-a-billion streams, they've quietly moved 8 million-plus units worldwide and the band has sold out gigs on multiple continents. In 2020, the band was one of the first to embrace streaming performances, starting with their Streaming Up From
Boston St. Patrick's Day virtual performance. It was followed by their landmark Streaming Outta Fenway livestream, which drew more than 5.9 million viewers and held the #3 spot on Pollstar's "Top 2020 Live Streams" chart.
Dropkick Murphys St. Patrick's Day Stream 2021...Still Locked Down, was #1 on Pollstar's Livestream chart for the week ending March 22, 2021, logging over 1 million views.
Dropkick Murphys returned in 2022 with their first-ever all-acoustic album, This Machine Still
Kills Fascists (Dummy Luck
Music / [PIAS]), and seated theater tour. This Machine Still
Kills Fascists--and their follow-up album Okemah Rising--breathe musical life into mostly unpublished lyrics by the legendary Woody Guthrie, curated for the band by Woody's daughter Nora Guthrie.
Dropkick Murphys recently released a new single, "Sirens," the first hint of a new album to come in 2025.
Aside from essentially defining the California half-pipe punk blueprint,
Bad Religion has defied the usual trend-shifts or values-ditched ubiquities of the usual punk band storyline and morphed along with challenging album after challenging album amid astoundingly consistent touring, retaining their core audience while roping in subsequent generations of anxiously energetic kids.
The band has long settled into the current lineup who have arguably enacted the most muscular
Bad Religion to ever grace a stage: Greg Graffin (vocals) and Jay Bentley (bass) join Brian Baker (guitarist since '94), guitarist Mike Dimkich, and drummer Jamie Miller.
Bad Religion is in an almost singular position in the history of punk. Having formed right on the heels of the original explosion, they led the west coast arm of hardcore's birth, adding their melodic riffs, zooming harmonies, and viciously verbose lyrical punch to the basic bash of hardcore. Then the band continued to expand their template through the '80s and into the indebted "neo-punk" sound of the early '90s, and weathered the questionable dichotomies of the "alternative rock" era by doing what they've always done - releasing explosive album after album to consistent acclaim from fans and critics. And if you're positive there is no way they could keep doing the same thing all these years, you'd be right. They haven't. They've continued to throw songwriting and production wrenches into the works so's not to bore themselves or their never-diminishing following. They have released 17 studio albums to their ever-widening audience. The band's rep as socially aware thought-provokers can obscure the fact they've remained one of the most viscerally powerful live bands on the planet, remembering it's the beats and riffs that get your ass off the couch in the first place. Being
Bad Religion is what they do best; they see no reason to take their foot off the pedal any time soon.
