Inbox Update: Big Head Todd, Dropkick Murphys

Before I shoot out of town on vacation, here are a few gems on two fantastic live bands I caught for the first time in 2011. Have a great week everybody!

Big Head Todd and the Monsters performed on stage with blues great Charlie Musselwhite at the Doheny Blues Festival on May 22, 2011.

Photos of Big Head Todd courtesy of Bob Steshetz

BIG HEAD TODD AND THE MONSTERS TO TOUR WITH BARENAKED LADIES’

LOOK FOR THE BAND AT CLUB SHOWS THIS SPRING

Big Head Todd & The Monsters travels this summer with the Barenaked Ladies’ “Last Summer on Earth” tour, also featuring Blues Traveler and Cracker. Launching July 6th at the Toledo Zoo Amphitheatre in Toledo, OH, the much-anticipated tour hits more than 30 arenas and amphitheaters across the country (full itinerary below).

But first, Big Head Todd & The Monsters continue with their winter/spring club tour; their first in over three years. For select stops along the tour, the band has been performing their breakout album, Midnight Radio, live in its entirety. Also on the itinerary: FestEVOL ski mountain stops in Colorado, Vermont and New Hampshire with Guster and others. And as always, it wouldn’t be summer without BHTM’s annual hometown Red Rocks Amphitheatre, this year on June 9th!

Big Head Todd & The Monsters winter/spring tour dates are as follows:

March 14 Greenville SC Handle Bar
March 15 Charleston SC Music Farm
March 16 Charlotte NC The Fillmore
March 18 Crested Butte CO Crested Butte Mountain Resort
co-headline with Guster
March 25 Ludlow VT Okemo Mountain Resort
co-headline with Guster
April 1 Newbury NH Mount Sunapee Resort
co-headline with Guster
April 14 Phoenix AZ McDowell Mountain Music Festival
May 5 Uncasville CT Mohegan Sun Casino
May 12 Myrtle Beach SC House of Blues - Myrtle Beach
June 9 Morrison CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
with special guests Barenaked Ladies
June 16 Sioux City IA Awesome Biker Nights


“Last Summer On Earth” tour stops – with Barenaked Ladies, Blues Traveler, Big Head Todd & The Monsters and Cracker are as follows:

July 6 Toledo, OH Toledo Zoo Amp
July 7 Rochester, NY Marvin Sands PAC
July 8 Dayton, OH Fraze Pavilion
July 9 Chicago, IL Charter One Pavilion
July 11 Vienna, VA Wolftrap
July 12 Raleigh, NC Raleigh Amp
July 13 Charlotte, NC Uptown Amp
July 14 Charleston, SC Family Circle Stadium
July 16 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Amp
July 17 Tampa, FL Ask Gary Amp
July 18 West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amp
July 20 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods
July 21 Austin, TX ACL at Moody Theat.
July 22 Dallas, TX Gexa Amp
July 24 Albuquerque, NM Sandia Casino
July 25 Phoenix, AZ Comerica Theatre
July 27 Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amp
July 28 Las Vegas, NV The Joint @ Hard Rock
July 29 San Diego, CA Harrah’s Rincon
July 31 Saratoga, CA Mountain Winery
Aug 2 Boise, ID Botanical Gardens
Aug 3 Redmond, WA Marymoor
Aug 9 Council Bluffs, IA Harrah’s Council Bluffs
Aug 10 West Allis, WI Wisconsin State Fairgrounds
Aug 11 Detroit, MI DTE Amphitheatre
Aug 12 Indianapolis, IN The Lawn @ White River State Park
Aug 14 Wantagh, NY Jones Beach
Aug 15 Philadelphia, PA Penn’s Landing
Aug 17 Bethlehem, PA Sands Event Ctr
Aug 18 Boston, MA Bank of America Pavilion
Aug 19 Bangor, ME Bangor Waterfront

Tickets and additional info available at www.lastsummeronearth.com.

A quarter-century is a long time for any band to stick together, but Big Head Todd & The Monsters not only remain intact (singer-guitarist Todd Park Mohr, pictured on left, bassist Rob Squires and drummer Brian Nevin have been at it since their University of Colorado days and keyboardist, steel guitarist and background vocalist Jeremy Lawton joined in 2004) but continue to evolve, fine-tune and surprise. With more than a dozen albums and countless live gigs to their credit, BHTM—with their signature mix of funky rock and blues, soul, country, folk and jazz, Caribbean and African rhythms and more—inspired one newspaper critic to enthuse, “Ah, so this is what a stick of dynamite feels like!”

To read my review of Big Head Todd's performance at the Doheny Blues Fest in 2011, click here.

For more information on Big Head Todd, visit the group's official Web site.

DROPKICK MURPHYS RELEASE NEW CD TODAY!
GOING OUT IN STYLE: FENWAY PARK BONUS EDITION

HOMETOWN MASSACHUSETTS SHOWS RUN MARCH 14-18

Dropkick Murphys have released the Going Out In Style: Fenway Park Bonus Edition CD today - an expanded version of their critically acclaimed Going Out In Style - on Born & Bred Records. The Fenway Park Bonus Edition includes 18 live tracks recorded during two sold-out shows for 40,000 fans at Boston's legendary Fenway Park in September 2011. The two-disc collection also includes a download of the filmed concert. 500 limited edition vinyl copies of the Going Out In Style: Fenway Park Bonus Edition are available for order now at dropkickmurphys.com. A full tracklsting can be found below.

The music video for "Cruel" - featuring live footage from Fenway Park - is set to debut nationally on MTVu March 17, and will air 24 times in a 24 hour period.

Dropkick Murphys are in the midst of performing its annual run of Boston area St. Patrick's Day week shows, including a pair of shows at Tsongas Arena in Lowell, MA. See below for details. Hometown fans won't be the only ones with a chance to catch the band on St. Patricks Day. Fans from around the country can catch the premiere of "Dropkick Murphys: Live At Fenway" in HD on Palladia TV March 17 at 9 p.m. ET. Look for repeat airings on Palladia through April 7 (check local listings).

The band - Al Barr (lead vocals), Tim Brennan (guitars, accordion, whistle, vocals), Ken Casey (lead vocals, bass guitar), Jeff DaRosa (banjo, bouzouki, mandolin, harmonica, vocals), Matt Kelly (drums, vocals), James Lynch (guitar, vocals), and Scruffy Wallace (bagpipes, tin whistles) - continue their North American St. Patrick's Day Tour through March 24 and will play various overseas festivals in June, including a coveted slot at the UK's 10th annual Download Festival on June 10. See below for the current tour itinerary.

Fenway Park Bonus Edition live CD tracklisting:
1) Hang 'Em High
2) Sunday Hardcore Matinee
3) Deeds Not Words
4) Going Out In Style
5) The Irish Rover
6) Peg O' My Heart
7) Tessie
8) Cruel
9) Climbing A Chair To A Bed
10) Take 'Em Down
11) Devil's Brigade
12) Boys On The Docks
13) The Dirty Glass
14) The State Of Massachusetts
15) Kiss Me I'm Shitfaced
16) Time To Go
17) I'm Shipping Up To Boston
18) T.N.T. (cover)

*The Fenway Park Bonus Edition also features the complete story of Cornelius Larkin by the band's friend and best-selling author Michael Patrick MacDonald (All Souls, Easter Rising). The Cornelius Larkin story is an expansion of MacDonald's Cornelius Larkin obituary that appears in the original Going Out In Style liner notes.

To read my review of Dropkick Murphys' memorable set at the Hootenanny festival in July 2011, click here.