Summer of Discontent Tour: Dropkick Murphy’s w/Bad Religion

Phantom Light Media
Aug 1, 2025
3 min read

Last Wednesday July 23rd I took a little five hour drive from Boise,ID to Bend,OR. located on the Deschutes River nestled under the 3 Sisters. I was there to photograph and watch two of my favorite bands growing up. I got there a little early, which isn’t uncommon for me. I like to get a feel for the environment if I can and decompress from the drive and find a bite to eat and a coffee. The show was held at the Hayden Homes Amphitheater. This was my first time in this venue but its layout and design was very similar to Outlaw Field back in Boise; It’s just a bit of a more permanent stage then Outlaw Field. The Opener for the show was The Mainliners. The most I was able to catch was some of their sound check from outside of the venue and then their performance from will call when I was waiting to pick up my photo pass. From what I was able to glean, they sounded pretty good and I look forward to getting a chance to see them on stage.

Back in the venue waiting for Bad Religion to come on stage, I took the time to observe the crowd. One of the greatest things about punk rock is it’s not just the music but it is the whole culture and community that surrounds it. Seeing all the different people that come together behind it always brings a smile to my face. It’s shows like this that don't need the pomp and circumstance other shows bring with them. This is what we got from Bad Religion. We listened to and watched pure music and performance. With some banter with fans on the rail and a little razzing. I was pretty drawn to their art on the video board. I'm still curious who the artist(s) that provided it are. The music brought out the energy and a circle pit with some crowd surfers tossed into the mix. Kudos to the man doing laps with the kid on his shoulders, I would be feeling that for weeks. We all sang along to our favorite songs, and I still feel “21st century(Digital Boy)” is just as relevant now as it was when they released it in 1990 even more so. I really enjoyed seeing Bad Religion for the first time. This would also be my first time seeing The Dropkick Murphys.

Going into this show I had seen the reels and the social media cover the political activism from The Dropkick Murphys. This was something I came here looking forward to. One of the great things about Punk music is the social value it brings to the world. It’s not just energizing and entertaining but it will make you listen, think, and look.

They opened the set with “Who’ll Stand With Us” off their new album which was released for streaming on July 4th. Lead singer Ken Kasey came out on stage full of energy. Seemly never stopped moving for the entire set with the exception of drinking water. This rubbed off on the crowd getting to see one of the biggest circle pits I have seen at a show. The flow of crowd surfers over the rail seemed endless. Everyone was there for the party. The way the band interacted with the crowd made you feel that you were as much a part of the show as the band was.

There are a few songs that were my favorites of the night “Bury the Bones” with its lyrics and visuals addressing the divided state and dysfunction of our country. The other two are tributes, “The Bigman” a tribute to the Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge and a song that took me a bit to get into but have found I really enjoy and appreciate the meaning behind. “Chesterfields and Aftershave” a song dedicated to Ken Kasey’s grandfather who raised him. All of these songs can be heard on their new album “For the People” out for streaming now and will be released on vinyl and CD October 10th with 5 additional tracks. Im looking forward to the second release and will have to get myself a vinyl.

I will end this review on the part of the show that really has stayed with me since. Going into the “Workers Song” Kasey talked about his blue collar roots. How the state of the nation is having a huge impact on the blue collar worker. Not a good one. Which I agree with him in full and will leave you with a quote Ken Kasey, “It’s not politics, it’s class war”