Dropkick and Street Dogs on tour together? Yup!
Dropkick Murphys have announced the first annual Shamrock-N-Roll Festival. The touring festival will feature Dropkick Murphys, Street Dogs, Chuck Ragan, The Mahones,The Parkington Sisters and local bands, as well as additional yet-to-be-announced national acts performing on two alternating stages. A boxing demonstration and signing with special guest, renowned boxer “Irish” Micky Ward (The Fighter), will also be featured at the family friendly, all-ages festival.
The Dropkick Murphys Shamrock-N-Roll Festival will kick off with the September 8 and 9 sold-out hometown shows at Boston’s Fenway Park and will visit Bangor, ME; Altamont, NY; Pittsburgh, PA; Columbus, OH; Portsmouth, VA; Rochester, NY and Philadelphia, PA. Dropkick Murphys Shamrock-N-Roll Festival will feature a main stage and acoustic stage, along with kid-friendly activities. The full lineup will be announced soon.
Tickets for most shows go on sale this Friday or Saturday. For the previously announced Fenway Park shows, 18,000 tickets sold out in just 45 minutes. Go to www.DropkickMurphys.com to purchase tickets and for full details about Dropkick Murphys Shamrock-N-Roll Festival. $1 from every ticket sold will benefit the band’s charity, The Claddagh Fund In addition, $1 from every ticket sold for the September 11 show in Altamont will be donated to 9/11 charities.
Dropkick Murphys’ founder/bassist/vocalist Ken Casey explains why the band decided to create their own festival: “We wanted to put a different spin on the idea of an Irish music festival–instead of focusing on the Old World folk tradition, we’re showcasing the ways that tradition has woven itself into newer music–while still maintaining a family-friendly environment and Irish cultural perspective. Our fans cross so many generations, and not all of them want to see a Dropkick Murphys show in a punk rock venue. The Shamrock-N-Roll Festival will give more fans an opportunity to experience our live show, and to hear the unique ways that the other bands on the festival bring that Irish influence into their modern music.”
The critically-acclaimed Dropkick Murphys–known for their complex distillation of classic punk rock, Celtic folk and American rock ‘n’ roll–are touring in support of their Going Out In Style CD (Born & Bred Records/ILG), which debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200–the group’s highest chart debut to date.
Catch Dropkick Murphys—Al Barr (lead vocals), Tim Brennan (guitars, accordion, whistle, vocals), Ken Casey (lead vocals, bass guitar), Jeff DaRosa (banjo, bouzouki, mandolin, harmonica, vocals), Matt Kelly (drums, vocals), James Lynch (guitar, vocals), and Scruffy Wallace (bagpipes)–on the road in the following cities:
Shamrock-N-Roll Festival:
Thursday, September 8 Boston, MA Fenway Park
Friday, September 9 Boston, MA Fenway Park
Saturday, September 10 Bangor, ME Bangor Waterfront
Sunday, September 11 Altamont, NY Altamont Fairgrounds
Monday, September 12 Pittsburgh, PA Trib Total Media Amp
Tuesday, September 13 Columbus, OH LC Pavilion
Thursday, September 15 Portsmouth, VA nTelos Wireless Pavil
Saturday, September 17 Rochester, NY Main Street Armory
Sunday, September 18 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory Lot
Old Shoe 