Dropkick Murphys announced today that they will perform two landmark hometown shows, September 8 and 9, at Boston’s Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox. A portion of the proceeds from the two shows will benefit the Massachusetts 9/11 Fund–which helps support families of victims of 9/11 throughout the state–as well as the band’s charity, The Claddagh Fund. Special guests Mighty Mighty Bosstones will perform at both shows, with additional opening acts to be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets for both shows go on sale Thursday, July 7 at Noon ET and will be available online at redsox.com/dropkicks, or by calling (877) RED-SOX9, or at the Fenway Park box office.

–Chrissy Prisco

Connecticut-based modern pop duo Mates of State have announced their first string of U.S. tour dates. Starting on September 21, the band will kick off their tour of the East Coast in support of their newest record, Mountaintops, which was recently finished and will be released on September 13th via Barsuk Records.

Mountaintops is the band’s full-length follow up to 2008’s critically acclaimed Re-Arrange Us. The self-produced album was written and recorded over the last year-and-a-half in 6 different studios with multiple engineers.

The band has also released the first music video for a song from the new album, the ceaselessly catchy Maracas, which you can view below.

September Tour Dates:
9/21 – Washington DC  – 930 Club # *
9/22 – Cincinnati, OH – Mid Point Music Festival # *
9/23 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Smalls # *
9/24 – Philadelphia, PA – Popped Festival # *
9/26 – Boston, MA – Royale # *
9/27 – Montreal, QB – Il Motore # *
9/28 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix # *
9/29 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrews # *
9/30 – Chicago, IL – Metro # *   

October Tour Dates:
10/01 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall % *
10/03 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel % *
10/04 – Nashville, TN – Exit/In % *
10/05 – Charlotte, NC – Visulite Theatre % *
10/06 – Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn % *
10/07 – Orlando, FL – The Social % *
10/08 – Sunrise, FL – Langerado Festival % *
10/10 – Richmond, VA – Canal Club % *
10/11 – Baltimore, MD -Ottobar % *
10/12 – New York, NY – Webster Hall %

# w/ Suckers
% w/ Other Lives
* w/ Yawn

–Chrissy Prisco

Where did the band name, Tan Vampires, come from?

Every time I’m asked this question I feel a little guilty that I don’t have a better story to tell. We’re all pretty irreverent, and lot of the time we all spend together involves riffing on things one person says, and free associating ideas- usually with humorous or outrageous intent. I think the name "Tan Vampires" probably came from Mike Filitis (bass player) and I (Jake Mehrmann: vocals, guitar) hanging out and doing just that. Of course, shortly after I started using the name, Twilight/TrueBlood/VampireWeekend and a slew of other vampire-related pop culture became hugely popular, and I seriously considered changing it. I guess I thought there might be negative assumptions made by people who thought we had jumped on a bandwagon or something. Eventually, though, I was like "Screw it. I like the name, and I had it first."

Click here to read the rest of the interview with Tan Vampires.

–Chrissy Prisco