After 41 years: hardcore legends Slapshot bow out in Boston
With 25 songs and „Hang Up Your Boots“ as the closer, Slapshot played their final show on „Edge Day“. The Boston band is now officially history.
Archive image · Photo: Issan Sumisu / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Boston hardcore band Slapshot have said goodbye with a final concert in their home city. As VISIONS reports, the group played for more than an hour on 17 October, the day the scene celebrates as Edge Day, performing 25 songs accompanied by annotated videos. The set included songs by The Smiths and Negative FX. It closed with their best-known song, Hang Up Your Boots. The band had already announced its break-up in 2024.
Support acts included Agnostic Front, DYS, Bold and Restraining Order. Former members returned to the stage: guitarist Craig Silverman played the full set, and ex-drummer Mark McKay sat in on several songs. Pat Flynn of Have Heart and Fiddlehead sang Chunks, a song by predecessor band Last Rights, and finished it with a stage dive. Béton Armé, Time X Heist, Aggressive Dogs and Neighborhood Shit also played.
Slapshot were formed in 1985 from the remains of early Boston hardcore bands Negative FX and Last Rights. The line-up changed frequently; the only constant over 41 years was singer Jack Kelly, known as Choke. The band released eight studio albums, the last being Make America Hate Again in 2018. Their final European show was at the Revolution Calling festival in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in November 2025.