Thursday, September 15, 2011

Shamrock-N-Roll Festival - Waterfront Concerts, Bangor Maine

Dropkick Murphys  
Kick it at the Bangor Waterfront Concerts Pavilion.
Labor day Weekend Saturday Sept.10, 2011.

 Article and  Photographic images created by Conall O'Brien.

Click photos for large view.  




Dropkick Murphys return to Maine in 2011 (Bangor, Maine).


Fresh off from two sold-out shows at Boston's Fenway Park, 
Punk Celtic folk band Dropkick Murphys came to the 
Bangor Waterfront, the latest music act to launch their very own music festival.



Dramatic Backlit scene to open the show.

Black and White Backlit image of the Dropkick Murphys in Bangor, ME.


Waterfront Concerts in Northern New England was chosen as the second stop of the Shamrock-N-Roll Festival. Featuring Stiff Little Fingers, Street Dogs, Hot Water Music’s Chuck Ragan, The Parkington Sisters, and The Mahones - among local bands scheduled to appear on the two stages set up for the daylong extravaganza. In honor of the great sacrifices made by countless people as a result of 9-11, all first responders and emergency/ law enforcement personnel were given complimentary tickets for admission.

Fan of Irish Punk Band the Dropkick Murphys

Dropkick Murphys have been around  for about 16 years and are the unofficial team of The Boston Red Sox,  performing in the parade in Boston after the 2007 championship, and are 2 for 2 for playing at games when the Red Sox have won.








































The Shamrock-N-Roll Festival offers a lot of bang for the buck and perhaps this writer/photographer is biased given his "good Irish name" , but if you want to discover yourself how great this band really is ( the band's latest album "Going Out in Style", reached number six on the Billboard charts on it's debut) the festival dates are as follows:

09/08 – Boston, MA @ Fenway Park *
09/09 – Boston, MA @ Fenway Park *
09/10 – Bangor, ME @ Bangor Waterfront *
09/11 – Altamont, NY @ Altamont Fairgrounds *
09/12 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Trib Total Media Amphitheatre *
09/13 – Columbus, OH @ LC Pavilion *
09/15 – Portsmouth, VA @ nTelos Wireless Pavilion *
09/17 – Rochester, NY @ Main Street Armory *
09/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory Lot *

For other dates go to (click here) Dropkick Murphys website now.

Only two shows remaining on The Bangor Waterfront 2011 schedule- Reba McEntire w/ Janedear Girls  and then George Thorogood/ Charlie Daniels Band. 
Then Lewiston, Maine is scheduled to get some love from the Waterfront Concert people with two shows scheduled at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee later this month and in December. 

 Check out Waterfront Concerts in Maine- website here


 © 2011 Conall O'Brien All Rights Reserved - obiephotography_at_hotmail.com

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Umphrey's McGee Closes Out Four Nights At Brooklyn Bowl - By Bill Kelly

Umphrey's McGee at Brooklyn Bowl
 Musicianship was on display in Williamsburg Friday night as Umphrey's McGee completed a sold out four night run.  Led by the dual guitar team of Brendan Baylis and Jake Cinninger, the band and crowd traded energy all night.  Like a louder, jazz inflected offspring of the Grateful Dead (Bob Weir joined that band during Tuesday night's second set) the band used songs as framework for improvisation, touching on classic jazz (Davis' "So What") and classic Rock, covering Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" and The Who.  The audience and band communicated regularly, moving in unison.  Rounded out by Ryan Stasik's booming base darting in between the two guitarist,  percussionist Kris Myers and Andy Farig and Joel Cummins' keyboard and synth, the band displayed a veteran jams band sense of exploration; pushing, leaving and returning to themes.  It was clear from the reaction of the crowd that that was exactly what they came for.








Brendan Bayliss relaxes with a glass of his favorite red















Full Steam Ahead for Furthur Tour

Furthur is gearing up for a fall tour that is sure to add some frequent flyer miles for those catching most of the shows.  Starting on the first day of autumn, Furthur plays three shows at the Cuthbert Amphitheater in Eugene.

Then after single day shows in Montana and Utah, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir and the rest of the band, crew and tour settle in for three days at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.  Heading west after that, the tour dips into Vegas for a show at the Hard Rock and continues to California for 2 shows at at The Greek Theater in L.A. and 2 more in Monterey.  After a three week break, Furthur opens the east coast run of the tour in Manchester, New Hampshire on November 3 and then trucks on through the Northeast including a November 10 show at Madison Square Garden.  Getting as far south as Charlottesville, Virginia on the east coast leg of the tour, Furthur will then be performing 5 shows across the mid-west to the delight of many who have not been able to travel to catch shows in the past couple of tours.

Click photos for full size view.















Here is the full rundown of the tour dates:

    Fri, Sep 23rd, Cuthbert Amphitheater, Eugene, OR
    Sat, Sep 24th, Cuthbert Amphitheater, Eugene, OR
    Sun, Sep 25th, Cuthbert Amphitheater, Eugene, OR
    Tue, Sep 27th, Adams Event Center @ University of Montana, Missoula, MT
    Wed, Sep 28th, Maverik Center, West Valley City, UT
    Fri, Sep 30th, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
    Sat, Oct 1st, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
    Sun, Oct 2nd, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
    Tue, Oct 4th, The Joint @ Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
    Wed, Oct 5th, The Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA
    Thu, Oct 6th, The Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA
    Fri, Oct 7th, Monterey County Fairgrounds, Monterey, CA
    Sat, Oct 8th, Monterey County Fairgrounds, Monterey, CA
    Thu, Nov 3rd, Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, NH
    Fri, Nov 4th, Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, ME
    Sat, Nov 5th, Mohegan Sun Arena, Wilkes-Barre, PA
    Sun, Nov 6th, Mullins Center, Amherst, MA
    Tue, Nov 8th, John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, VA
    Thu, Nov 10th, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
    Fri, Nov 11th, Oncenter, Syracuse, NY
    Sat, Nov 12th, Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ
    Sun, Nov 13th, First Niagara Center, Buffalo, NY
    Tue, Nov 15th, Bryce Jordan Center, State College, PA
    Wed, Nov 16th, Jerome Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH
    Fri, Nov 18th, Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL
    Sat, Nov 19th, Alliant Energy Center, Madison, WI
    Sun, Nov 20th, Fabulous Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO
    Mon, Nov 21st, Old National Centre (Formerly Murat Centre), Indianapolis, IN














Tickets are still available for the first leg of the tour and the second leg of the tour has ticket sales dates of September 16 and September 17 - details are here on Furthur's tour page.



















Furthur may be having another ticket pre-sale on September 15 at 10am.
Furthur tickets pre-sale password is FALL2011.