Dropkick Murphys returned to Boston’s most famous stomping grounds on Friday, May 29 for their free live streaming concert, Streaming Outta Fenway, presented by Pega. Following the success of the band’s free Streaming Up From Boston St. Patrick’s Day performance, Streaming Outta Fenway marked the first-ever music event without an in-person audience at a major U.S. venue, and the first music performance directly on the infield at Boston’s legendary Fenway Park.
During the show, the band was joined remotely by longtime friend Bruce Springsteen for a special two-song “Double Play” that included Dropkick Murphys’ “Rose Tattoo” and Springsteen’s “American Land.”
Streaming Outta Fenway raised over $700,000 and counting for charities Boston Resiliency Fund, Feeding America®, and Habitat for Humanity, Greater Boston, with the help of fans and a generous $51,000 donation and $100,000 matching pledge from Pega. Viewed over 9 million times by people worldwide, the concert streamed concurrently on Dropkick Murphys’ Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Twitch pages, aired live on SiriusXM’s E Street Radio channel, and also streamed via RedSox.com, MLB.com, NESN.com, USO, Vulture and more.
Prior to the live performance, Dropkick Murphys took fans on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Fenway Park, and debuted the video for their newest single, “Mick Jones Nicked My Pudding” from the band’s upcoming album.
Celebrities including Kevin Bacon, actor Mike O’Malley, Jack O’Callaghan of the 1980 “Miracle On Ice” Olympic hockey team, Saturday Night Live alum Rachel Dratch and others joined with video messages supporting the text-to-donate charity campaign.
Introduced by longtime Red Sox radio announcer Joe Castiglione (accompanied remotely by Fenway Park organist Josh Kantor), Dropkick Murphys – Al Barr (co-lead vocals), Tim Brennan (guitars, accordion, mellotron, whistles, vocals), Ken Casey (co-lead vocals), Jeff DaRosa (banjo, bouzouki, mandolin, harmonica, acoustic guitars, vocals), Matt Kelly (drums, percussion, vocals), James Lynch (guitar, vocals), Kevin Rheault (touring bassist), Lee Forshner (touring bagpipe player) – took positions around the infield and launched into a nearly two-hour set.
In addition to the “Double Play” with Bruce Springsteen, the set included a cover of Johnny Thunders’ “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory,” Red Sox victory songs “Tessie” and “Dirty Water” (The Standells), a stirring rendition of “Amazing Grace” and the band’s own somber “4-15-13” along with several familiar DKM classics.
Streaming Outta Fenway received coverage from a diverse range of press across the globe, including CBS This Morning, CNN, Forbes, MLB Tonight, MSN, Newsweek, NME, Politico, Rolling Stone, The Today Show, UPI, USA Today, Variety, Vulture, Yahoo! and many more.
Streaming Outta Fenway was directed by the band's longtime friend Josh Adams from MindPool Live, who has also directed two Dropkick Murphys concert films. Leading online video hosting platform Brightcove distributed the live stream across the web.
Next up, Dropkick Murphys will continue work on their new album as COVID-19 guidelines allow. The band was nearly finished recording when the pandemic began and delayed the recording process. The new Dropkick Murphys album is now scheduled for release in 2021, with a worldwide tour to support.
About Dropkick Murphys: Since forming in 1996, Boston's Dropkick Murphys have independently sold a staggering 8 million albums worldwide, with 2005's The Warrior's Code album achieving an RIAA Gold certification and its smash single "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" single nearing double platinum and appearing during a key moment of Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-winning The Departed. Dropkick Murphys have become ambassadors for their Boston hometown and have built a legacy that does Beantown proud. The band recently released the singles "Smash Sh*t Up" and "Mick Jones Nicked My Pudding," which will be included on their new album. Dropkick Murphys' song "Rose Tattoo"—from their Signed and Sealed in Blood album—was chosen by Loudwire as one of the "Top 66 Best Of The Decade Rock Songs," appearing at #21 on the list. Dropkick Murphys' most recent album, 11 Short Stories Of Pain & Glory (released through the band's own Born & Bred Records in 2017), debuted at #8 on the Billboard Top 200 and was the #1 independently released album.
