August 6 Will Now Be Known as ‘Godsmack Day’ In Boston

Photo via Associated Press

This week, Mayor Marty Walsh will officially—seriously, this is happening—designate Wednesday, August 6, as “Godsmack Day” in the city of Boston, when he goes to hang out with lead singer Sully Erna and the rest of the guitar-riffing crew at a local Newbury Comics.

The stunt is meant to celebrate the group’s sixth studio album, “1000HP,” which is set to hit store shelves and become available on the Internet (was that around when the band formed?) a day prior.

According to WAAF, who will be promoting a meet-and-greet between fans and the heavy-metal musical guests during a live show, Walsh will “officially present the band with this distinction” at the Newbury Comics in Faneuil Hall, recognizing Godsmack as “international ambassadors for the city,” and applauding “ their long success within the music industry.”

Godsmack frontman Erna has been touting the new album, the band’s first since 2010, via social media for weeks, trying to rev up the engines of head-banging fans, and urging them to show up early for the event so they can snag autographs from the group.

Godsmack, who got their start in Lawrence in 1995, is trying to break through and make this their fourth No. 1 album, calling on everyone to “spread the word.”

“Just so we’re clear…the way to get this to #1 is to out sell them the first week,” Erna said in a recent Facebook post. “So tell everyone you know to tell everyone they know!”

Walsh pushing for a musical designation shouldn’t come as a surprise, even if this particular choice in a band seems somewhat out of left field.

If you recall, Walsh used the Dropkick Murphys every chance he got when he was running for mayor. The Irish-themed group also played the night that he found out he won the honor of becoming the city’s first new mayor in two decades.

That’s not all.

Before Walsh was in City Hall, he was in the State House representing constituents while serving on Beacon Hill. It was there that he spent some of his time trying to convince the legislature to pass a bill that would make the song “Roadrunner” the official theme of the Commonwealth.

The location of the Godsmack celebration is also fairly fitting. Newbury Comics is where Walsh recently pulled out his wallet on Record Store Day to purchase some of his favorite tunes—including a Dropkick Murphys album.

A request for comment about whether Walsh would grow out his beard like Sully’s and don a T-shirt with flames was not immediately returned.