August 2025
“Welcome Sacto! It feels like Warped Tour again!”
Such is how Bad Religion’s vocalist Greg Graffin greeted the crowd as the band took the stage during the waning daylight of the band’s Summer of Discontent Tour. It was a reference to the outdoor stage standing in The Backyard, a parking lot for a beer and batting cages type of family fun center near the California Expo Grounds. Cheers came from the older in the crowd who remembered exactly what he was talking about. Ironically enough, the Warped Tour celebrated its 30th anniversary just a couple days earlier in Southern California but as opposed to the overly commercialized string of summer dates for Warped Tour, Bad Religion joined Boston band The Dropkick Murphys on a summer tour taking a decidedly different angle.
The Summer of Discontent Tour has been crossing the country featuring the two blatantly anti authoritarian bands, goaded along each night by the turmoil of authoritarian movements and general shittiness of the Trump administration. It’s something both bands alluded to when bantering with the crowd. Dropkick Murphys particularly have been receiving their fair share of viral views specifically challenging Trump, along with some of his flock who have made it to the band’s shows.
But on this warm summer night, the tour was marked by its catchy bands and communal moments of euphoria.
Hollywood based punk group, The Mainliners, opened the show. The influences of early TSOL resonated from the aggressive guitars of the group as they sauntered across the stage.
Bad Religion was up next. Being that this is likely the group that influenced the majority of the punk and pop punk bands that came (and went) after them, the group jumped around across their 4 decades+ of material. They made reference to their beginnings in a garage in Canoga Park, California, while playing songs off of a dozen different albums over their 20+ song set.
“Some of you may not remember, but this song came out 42 years ago…” Graffin joked. Though it may be pretty standard for a punk crowd to be filled by a good number of forty- and fifty somethings these days, it’s also inspiring to see the amount of young children in tow with their parents and teenagers as well.
The Dropkick Murphys hit the stage hard and immediately, opening with “Who’ll Stand With Us?” off of their new For The People album which was released on the 4th of July.
When more recent Bush and Trump presidencies came with the supposed consolation of the hope of politically driven punk music reminiscent of the incredible wave of bands emerging during the Reagan years, it seems like Dropkick Murphys are the ones carrying the flag. Calling out political dismissal of vets and the poorer groups of society, the Dropkick Murphys Celtic influenced hardcore addresses labor and class war politics, while having a large contingent of the crowd dancing regardless of where they were on the floor.
Vocalist Ken Casey read some of the crowds’ signs, including a father/daughter who had seen the band on a half dozen different shows during the current tour and another kid holding a sign saying to play the song “Good Rats”. After acknowledging he’d never sang the song before and may not even know all the right words, Casey and the band played “Good Rats” before sliding into the final stretch of their set, asking the crowd to throw their arms around the person next to them regardless if they came together or know each other or not, then breaking into the songs “Rose Tattoo,” “I’m Shipping Up To Boston” and ending the night with the new song “The Big Man,” an ode to the antic of Pennywise’s Fletcher Dragge calling for everyone to raise their glass.
United over discontent, the tour brought two great punk bands together for an inspiring night in Sacramento’s late July heat.
Check out some past coverage:
- Dropkick Murphys show puts band’s punk roots front and center (2024)
- Dropkick Murphys rock Reno, give fascists ‘Middle Finger’ (2022)
- Scorching weather and leather for 23rd Punk Rock Bowling (2023)
