Murphys Boxing Boss Ken Casey At Fenway Park May 29, Joined By Bruce Springsteen
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Michael Woods
Mark the calendar, on the wall and virtually. This one is a can't miss, for fans of rock n roll, Boston's signature band and The Boss.
Dropkick Murphys return Friday, May 29 for their Streaming Outta Fenway free live stream performance. The band will be joined (remotely) by longtime friend Bruce Springsteen for a special “double play” of one DKM song and one Springsteen song.
The full electric performance–with no live audience–will be simulcast worldwide from Fenway Park in Boston on Friday, May 29 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time / 3:00 PM Pacific Time on the band’s Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Twitch pages.
The event will raise money for multiple charities and is presented by Boston-area tech company Pega (www.pega.com), a leading provider of digital transformation software.
The Streaming Outta Fenway performance from Dropkick Murphys is one in a long history of shows the band has played at the park, but it will be the first–and possibly the only–time that a band plays on the baseball diamond at Fenway Park. The infield dirt is considered “sacred ground” to baseball fans, but with the baseball season on hold because of COVID-19, an exception has been made for the beloved Boston band.
The first-ever live streamed music performance from the venerated ballpark adds a new chapter to Fenway’s music history, with two of its foremost history-makers. Dropkick Murphys have rallied the fans for the Red Sox’ four World Series championships this century, as well as headlining Fenway in 2011.
Bruce Springsteen performed the first-ever ballpark-wide concert at Fenway back in 2003. The event also marks the first music performance without an in-person audience at a major U.S. arena, stadium or ballpark.
During the live stream, a text-to-donate campaign will support three non-profits: Boston Resiliency Fund, FeedingAmerica®, and Habitat for Humanity, Greater Boston.
The Dropkick Murphys live stream will be directed by the band’s longtime friend Josh Adams from MindPool Live, who has also directed two DKM concert films. Leading online video hosting platform Brightcove will distribute the live stream across the web.
Dropkick Murphys’ first live stream concert during the COVID-19 pandemic, Streaming Up From Boston on St. Patrick’s Day (exclusively sponsored by Pega), has been watched more than 13 million times across multiple platforms, and was featured on CBS This Morning Saturday, CNN, NBC Nightly News, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and in the Wall Street Journal.
During that live streaming event, Dropkick Murphys’ charity, The Claddagh Fund, raised over $60,000 for the city of Boston’s Boston Resiliency Fund, a nonprofit that provides essential services to Boston residents—including first responders and critical care providers—whose health and well-being are most immediately impacted by COVID-19. The free streaming concert was a #1 YouTube Trending Page, #2 Twitter Trending Topic across the United States, and a homepage feature on Twitch, as well as streaming concurrently via Facebook Live.
In other news, following the fan favorite “Smash Sh*t Up” single, Dropkick Murphys recently released a new single, “Mick Jones Nicked My Pudding.” These songs will be included on the band’s forthcoming album on their own Born & Bred Records. “Smash Sh*t Up” is available digitally and on limited edition colored vinyl paired with B-side “The Bonny,” a cover of Gerry Cinnamon’s 2019 song.
(EDITOR NOTE: We will all have to tune in to see song Springsteen serves up.
Also, soon enough, I think we will have more info on Murphys Boxing getting back into the swing of thing.)
For more information on 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) — visit here.
END NOTE: Click here, at 14:15 for a CLASSIC story from Ken Casey, when he came on Everlast TALKBOX.
Casey explained the circumstance that had him throwing right hands at an unruly patron at a show.
Founder/editor Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the then-impregnable Mike Tyson.
The Brooklyn-based journalist has covered the sport since for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, Bad Left Hook and RING. His journalism career started with NY Newsday in 1999.
Michael Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live, since 2017.