Boston excited for Dropkick shows and upcoming studio record.

Dropkick Murphys are just finishing up their European tour and will be back in the states just in time for their 6 straight sold out run at the Avalon Ballroom in Boston over St. Patrick's Day! The band will also be playing two shows in New York and one in New Jersey this month. Dropkick Murphys have just released the second 'Singles Collection' CD covering from 1998 to the present, and are finishing up their studio record that will be out this summer! Boston is getting very excited about the upcoming string of shows so read the following article from the Boston Phoenix and believe the hype.

With Dropkick Murphys' upcoming five-night, six-show stand at Avalon already sold out, a second installment of the Murphys' collected singles hitting shelves this week, and the band's next studio album almost in the can, you might think DKM CEO Ken Casey has nothing more serious to worry about than which bank he's gonna laugh all the way to come St. Patrick's Day. But there is a hitch in the schedule, one that begins with the letter N and ends with the letter L. "Yeah, they really screwed up our plans for a huge weekend of hockey in Boston for everyone coming into town for our St. Patrick's Day shows," says Casey, a Bruins season-ticket holder. It's become a tradition for the band to take in a game with fans during their annual St. Paddy's home-town stand, one that was strengthened when the Murphys' rendition of their black-and-gold anthem "Time To Go," performed live during a FleetCenter intermission two years ago, helped inspire the B's to an overtime victory. "Last year, we were happy to show our out-of-town guests what hockey was all about," Casey adds. "This year, I guess we'll just take everyone to the Baseball Tavern and regale them with some Bruins stories." Or, of course, they could just lead gang shouts of "Tessie." "It's hard to complain when we have such great teams here like the Red Sox and the Patriots," Casey agrees. "It's good to be spoiled for choice."

If you didn't get tickets for the Murphys' Avalon run, you've got one last chance to see 'em, but you'll have to be up bright and early: they'll be playing first thing St. Patrick's Day morning, March 17, at 8:30 a.m. at the Black Rose, 160 State Street in Boston. Doors open at 6:30 a.m., the first 100 people get in free, admission thereafter is $10, and you can also hear their set live on The Swasey Show on WFNX. DKM's Singles Collection Volume 2, out this Tuesday, collects a bunch of barely heard unreleased tracks, B-sides, and covers including CCR's "Fortunate Son," Gang Green's "Alcohol," the Misfits' "Halloween" and the Business's "Mob Mentality." Look for the Murphys' self-produced new studio album, which is going under the working title The Warriors Code, to hit shelves in July.

BY CHRIS RUCKER
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