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In anticipation of a new compilation of rare tracks and b-side single releases, The Singles Collection, Volume 2: 1998 – 2004, in stores Tuesday, March 8, Dropkick Murphys will be performing five shows over four days for their annual St. Patrick’s Day event March 17th – 20th at the Avalon Ballroom in Boston. Tickets for this weeklong celebration went on sale December 7th; with four of the shows selling out in two days and a 5th show being added on Saturday, March 19th. Tickets for this 5th show, the Saturday matinee will go on sale December 8th. Having recently performed in front of more than 10,000 people with Manny Ramirez and V-Tek at the Governor’s State Address in Boston MA, Dropkick Murphys are more than just punk rockers, they have become a household name in New England synonymous with their anthem “Tessie”, a tribute to the Boston Red Sox that helped propel the team to break the curse and win the 2004 World Series.

The second in a series of compilation albums from Dropkick Murphys, The Singles Collection 2 is a chronicle of the band’s unique anthemic rock sound, mixing Celtic folk and aggressive street punk. Unlike traditional greatest hits albums The Singles Collection 2 is an extensive anthology of the band’s favorite songs from 7” singles, split EP’s, tribute albums and compilations over the past 6 years, including tracks from the European only release of the single “Walk Away” and their most recent single release “Tessie”.

From the guitar driven opening of “21 Guitar Salute” to the working class rock anthem “We Got The Power,” The Singles Collection showcases some of the best non-album material the band has produced over the past six years, including cover songs from a variety of legendary bands the Murphys wanted to pay tribute to: Motorhead, The Misfits, Shane MacGowan’s first band The Nipple Erectors and the only other band to mix rock’n’roll with bagpipes, AC/DC.

Dropkick Murphys are currently in the studio working on their follow up to 2003’s “Blackout” with their fifth, as yet untitled, album due for release in June 2005.