
BOSTON to BERKELEY II IS HERE !! We’re excited to hit the road with Rancid again!!
Tickets go on sale Friday…DropkickMurphys.com/tour for your local details + spread the word !!
(…yeah we know the tour doesn’t play in Boston or Berkeley specifically but this is part 2 of the tour and those are the bands hometowns…get it?? Okay great…)
Aug 10 – Waite Park, MN
Aug 11 – Kansas City, MO
Aug 13 – Lincoln, NE
Aug 14 – Wichita, KS
Aug 15 – Sauget, IL
Aug 17 – Washington, PA
Aug 18 – Cincinnati, OH
Aug 20 – Gilford, NH
Aug 21 – Worcester, MA
Aug 22 – Lewiston, NY
Aug 23 – Columbus, OH
Aug 25 – Richmond, VA
Aug 27 – Asbury Park, NJ
Aug 28 – New York, NY
Aug 31 – Philadelphia, PA
Sep 01 – Bridgeport, CT
Sep 24 – Nashville, TN
Sep 25 – Atlanta, GA
Sep 27 – Corpus Christi, TX
Sep 28 – Grand Prairie, TX
Sep 29 – Oklahoma City, OK
Oct 01 – Denver, CO
Oct 02 – Sandy, UT
Oct 04 – Nampa, ID
Oct 05 – Seattle, WA
Oct 07 – Palo Alto, CA
Oct 09 – Santa Ana, CA
Oct 10 – San Diego, CA
Oct 12 – Mesa, AZ
Oct 13 – Paso Robles, CA
Oct 15 – Las Vegas, NV
Oct 16 – Los Angeles, CA
Lincoln’s biggest music week ever grew even bigger with this week’s announcement of ZooFest on Aug 12-13 and a Lincoln on the Streets show featuring Dropkick Murphys and Rancid on Aug. 13.
Those events, held on 14th Street between O and P streets, and Centennial Mall between M and N streets, together are likely to bring in well more than 5,000 people.
They’ll join the 5,000 or so that will fill Pinewood Bowl for the sold-out Aug. 10 concert by The Avett Brothers and Willie Nelson and the 83,600 who have purchased tickets to see Garth Brooks at Memorial Stadium on Aug. 14.
Dropkick Murphys and Rancid will play a Lincoln on the Streets show Aug. 13.
Combined, the audiences for the four events will almost certainly top 95,000 people. And there’s a chance it could hit 100,000 — by far the most people ever to attend concerts in Lincoln in a week.
ZooFest, which was canceled last year, moved its dates from July to August in hopes that it could happen after COVID-19 capacity, social distancing and mask requirements were eased.
“It was going to be the 13th and 14th, and then Garth Brooks got dropped on top of my head,” said Zoo Bar owner Pete Watters. “Then, after I got it put together on Thursday and Friday nights, I learned about the Centennial Mall show.
“It’s a weird year. Everything for the last two years got pushed to the last half of the summer. There was just no way to avoid everything.”
Nikki Hill performs at the 2016 Zoo Bar Festival.
ZooFest headliners will be familiar faces — rock ’n’ soul fireball Nikki Hill on Friday and Mike Zito with his big band Saturday. Zito will be bringing a special guest — Tito Jackson of the Jackson 5, who’ll be releasing a blues album just before the festival.
The full ZooFest lineup includes Tony Meza & Chupacabra, the Hacienda Brothers and Hill on Thursday and Earl & Them, Eric Gale, Zito and Andy William & the Nebraska All Stars on Friday.
Ticket information will be released next week.
Lincoln On The Streets had intended to have three shows this summer, with Jamey Johnson last week, the Dropkick Murphys/Rancid co-headliner and In This Moment on Sept. 17. But Johnson’s show was moved to Pinewood Bowl because of COVID-19 concerns. It drew a sellout crowd of 4,400 to the Pioneers Park amphitheater.
While it’s hard to believe, the August show is thought to be the Lincoln debut for Dropkick Murphys, the renowned Boston Irish punk outfit that is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
The Murphys, who just released their 10th album, are joined by Rancid, the NoCal punk pioneers who are celebrating 30 years together on the “Boston To Berkeley II” tour.
Lincoln on the Streets tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at ticketmaster.com.
The competing shows will create a cacophony Friday night as the sounds from the stages echo through downtown.
But they also provide an opportunity for Lincoln residents and early arrivals for the Garth Brooks concert to catch some more music during the big week.
Photos: Mavis Staples headlines ZooFest on Saturday
ZOOFEST, 7.20
Mavis Staples sings during ZooFest on Saturday, July 20, 2019, outside of the Zoo Bar.
ZOOFEST, 7.20
Mavis Staples headlined ZooFest on Saturday outside the Zoo Bar in downtown Lincoln.
ZOOFEST, 7.20
Mavis Staples and her band perform Saturday at ZooFest.
ZOOFEST, 7.20
Bluesman James Harman, seen performing at ZooFest in 2019, died Sunday at his California home.
ZOOFEST, 7.20
Patrick Jones (left) looks on as Mavis Jones’ glow crown falls off while they wait for Mavis Staples to perform at ZooFest on Saturday, July 20, 2019, outside of the Zoo Bar. Mavis Jones is named after Mavis Staples.
ZOOFEST, 7.20
A couple dances during ZooFest on Saturday, July 20, 2019, outside the Zoo Bar.
ZOOFEST, 7.20
James Harman performs at ZooFest on Saturday, July 20, 2019, outside the Zoo Bar.
ZOOFEST, 7.20
Kevin Ebben records James Harman performing at ZooFest on Saturday, July 20, 2019, outside the Zoo Bar.
ZOOFEST, 7.20
Lisa Roper (left) and Todd Roper from Fort Worth, Texas, watch Zoofest from a nearby parking garage Saturday, July 20, 2019, outside the Zoo Bar.
Reach the writer at 402-473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com. On Twitter @KentWolgamott