Who’s missed concerts? 🙋♀️
If you haven’t noticed yet, the calendars are filling up quite nicely with a wide assortment of bands traveling and playing live, in-person shows again.
One of those upcoming shows (sponsored by 105.7 The Point) is double-billed punk rockers Rancid and Celtic punk rockers
Dropkick Murphys on Sunday, August 15 at Pop’s in Sauget, IL. The Bronx will open with more punk rock. Who’s headlining the Boston to Berkeley II night in East St. Louis? We won’t know until showtime so you’ll want to get there in plenty of time (doors: 5:30 pm with the show scheduled for 7:00 – 11:00 pm). The concert will be outside, so mom says to dress for the weather.
Rancid’s Tim Armstrong said, “Looking forward to hitting the road with the Dropkick Murphys again for the second edition of our Boston To Berkeley Tour. Our good buddies The Bronx will be joining us on tour as well. See ya in the pit!”
Dropkick Murphys’ Ken Casey said, “Can’t wait to get back out there and kick the touring door open again. This is a great lineup and we are gonna take the country by storm.”
If you really need to know more about the bands (straight from their presser):
Rancid and Dropkick Murphys have a long and important history together. Back in 1997, Rancid’s Lars Frederiksen came across a copy of Dropkick Murphys’ original EP at a friend’s house. He turned it over to his bandmate and Hellcat Records president Tim Armstrong, who quickly snatched up the band for his new label.
Emerging from the blue-collar swamps of Berkeley, California, Rancid has now been a living, breathing punk rock band for over a quarter century. Back in 1991, after the demise of their much beloved first band, Operation Ivy, founding members Tim Armstrong (vocals, guitar) and Matt Freeman (bass, vocals) decided to do the impossible – start an even better band. Thus, Rancid. Signing with Epitaph Records, the band released their first album Rancid in 1993. Shortly thereafter, Lars Frederiksen (vocals, guitar) joined the band, because…well, are you going to tell him he can’t? The result, in 1994, was Let’s Go. In 1995, Rancid released the classic platinum-selling …And Out Come The Wolves. You still remember when you first heard it. They followed with the even more ambitious Life Won’t Wait in 1998, and in 2000, Rancid released another album entitled Rancid, just to see if anyone was paying attention. After Indestructible in 2003, Branden Steineckert (drums) joined to solidify Rancid’s current lineup. They subsequently released the albums Let The Dominos [sic] Fall (2009) and Honor Is All We Know (2014). And out now is another immediate classic, Trouble Maker (2017).
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 (2021’s Turn Up That Dial, 11 Short Stories Of Pain & Glory, Signed and Sealed in Blood, Going Out In Style), along with 2005’s gold-selling The Warrior’s Code featuring the near 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 last year’s landmark Streaming Outta Fenway livestream, which drew more than 5.9 million viewers and held the #3 spot on Pollstar’s “Top 2020 Livestreams” 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 is: Al Barr (lead vocals), Tim Brennan (guitars, accordion, mellotron, whistles, vocals), Ken Casey (lead vocals, bass guitar), Jeff DaRosa (banjo, bouzouki, mandolin, harmonica, acoustic guitars, vocals), Matt Kelly (drums, percussion, vocals), James Lynch (guitar, vocals), Kevin Rheault (touring bassist) and Lee Forshner (touring bagpipe player).
Yes, COVID-19 is still a thing and the Delta variant is on the rise (especially in many parts of Missouri) so if you’re going to be in a space — in or outdoors — near a bunch of people you do or don’t know you might consider still masking up — even if you have the vaccination — in order to ease the spread and to keep your chances of getting -— or giving it to someone else extra low.
Photos: Dropkick Murphys perform at Pop’s in 2018. Photographs by Carrie Zukoski (all rights reserved).
