Saturday night at The Rooftop at Pier 17 saw two punk powerhouses take over the skyline as Dropkick Murphys and Bad Religion’s co-headlining Summer of Discontent tour rolled into New York City. With The Mainliners opening, the night offered a mix of raw energy, anthemic singalongs, and the kind of communal spirit only live punk can deliver.
The Mainliners kicked things off with a tight, high-energy set that quickly got the crowd moving. As the evening sun faded, Bad Religion took the stage, unleashing decades’ worth of blistering punk. Greg Graffin’s commanding vocals carried over the East River as the band tore through “Recipe for Hate,” “No Control,” “21st Century (Digital Boy),” and “Sorrow,” each one met with roars from the crowd.
Dropkick Murphys closed out the night with their signature blend of Celtic instrumentation and punk grit, kicking things off with “Who’ll Stand With Us?” and “The State of Massachusetts.” Between the bagpipes and blistering guitars, they tore through “Rose Tattoo,” “Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya,” and “I’m Shipping Up to Boston,” turning Pier 17 into a rooftop-wide singalong.
Midway through the set, frontman Ken Casey paused to tell the crowd that, even though the band loves New York, he still had to take the opportunity to “shit on something from here.” Smiling, he gave the audience two choices: the Yankees—prompting a wave of boos from part of the crowd—or Donald Trump, which drew loud cheers from most of the rooftop before the band launched into the next song.
By the time the last chords rang out, the night felt less like a concert and more like a gathering of old friends—thousands of them—bound together by decades of punk history. With the Summer of Discontent tour wrapping up August 17 in Big Flats, NY, the Pier 17 show stood out as a perfect mix of grit, humor, and unity against one of the most iconic backdrops in the city.
Dropkick Murphys Setlist: Who’ll Stand With Us?, The State of Massachusetts, Going Out in Style, The Boys Are Back, Longshot, The Hardest Mile, Barroom Hero, Out of Our Heads, Chesterfields & Aftershave, Middle Finger, Finnegan’s Wake, Caught in a Jar, School Days Over, Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya, Bury the Bones, Walk Away, Rose Tattoo, Worker’s Song, I’m Shipping Up to Boston, The Big Man
Bad Religion Setlist: Recipe for Hate, Supersonic, You Are (the Government), Candidate, No Control, Struck a Nerve, New Dark Ages, Modern Man, My Sanity, I Want to Conquer the World, Fuck Armageddon… This Is Hell, Fields of Mars, Do What You Want, True North, Atomic Garden, We’re Only Gonna Die, Generator, You, 21st Century (Digital Boy), Infected, Cease, Anesthesia, Sorrow, American Jesus
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