NYC ska icons The Toasters turn 35, touring, playing the Knit

August 18, 2016

New York City ska legends The Toasters celebrate a whopping 35 year anniversary this year. To celebrate, the band’s current iteration is embarking on a massive 38-date world tour that includes a stop at Knitting Factory on September 24. Tickets are currently on sale. Pick it up!

With upcoming NYC shows featuring ska legends like Bim Skala Bim, Mephiskapheles and The Pietasters, and now The Toasters, one might argue that we’re in the midst of a mini RenaiSKAnce. One might also argue that I merely wanted to make a really terrible pun just then. Either way, for me personally, an approximately four-year stretch of my life in the mid-’90s centered around nothing but ska. I had the 14 eyelet steel toe Doc Martens, the white laces, tightish jeans cuffed really high, a black bomber jacket covered with ska patches mostly sourced through Moon Records, rounded out with a very large, very shaved head, with (occasionally) very large mutton chop sideburns. Though I eventually drifted away from the scene and left most of my taste for ska in the past, there are still a handful of ska bands I still really and truly love; especially the Toasters. Their 30th anniversary tour brought them to the Knitting Factory in the winter of 2011 and, though not sold out, the room was packed, everyone was dancing and having a blast. Whether or not you like ska, who can begrudge a room full of people having a f-ing blast? Though age and man-boobs will not have me skanking, you can bet your man Klaus will be seeing the Toasters at the Knit this time around. Tour dates and some jams below.

The author and his brother : The Middle East, Downstairs, 1995ish

https://youtu.be/YvnhCxleigc

The Toasters — 2016 Tour Dates
Aug 18 Haygate Telford, United Kingdom
Aug 19 THE MOON CLUB Cardiff, United Kingdom
Aug 20 Great Northern Ska Festival Manchester, United Kingdom
Aug 21 Sportsmans Bristol, United Kingdom
Aug 26 The Crew Nuneaton, United Kingdom
Aug 27 The Parish Huddersfield, United Kingdom
Aug 28 Great Northern Ska Festival Bedale, United Kingdom
Sep 06 Siberia New Orleans, LA
Sep 07 WHITE OAK MUSIC HALL UPSTAIRS Houston, TX
Sep 08 Flamingo Cantina Austin, TX
Sep 09 Badlands El Paso, TX
Sep 10 Ska Brewing Durango, CO
Sep 11 Baron’s Grand Junction, CO
Sep 13 Black Sheep Colorado Springs, CO
Sep 14 Riot Room Kansas City, MO
Sep 15 The Lookout Omaha, NE
Sep 16 The Blackhawk Room @ Bierstube Quad Cities Davenport, IA
Sep 17 Riot Fest Chicago Chicago, IL
Sep 18 Founders Brewing Grand Rapids, MI
Sep 20 The Sanctuary Detroit, MI
Sep 21 Oddbody’s Dayton, OH
Sep 22 The Foundry Lakewood, OH
Sep 23 F.M. Kirby Center Wilkes Barre, PA
Sep 24 Knitting Factory Brooklyn, NY
Sep 25 The Middle East – Upstairs Cambridge, MA
Sep 26 Fuzebox Albany, NY
Sep 27 Milk Boy Philadelphia, PA
Sep 28 Local 506 Chapel Hill, NC
Sep 29 The Sparrow North Charleston, SC
Sep 30 Will’s Pub Orlando, FL
Oct 01 Alamo City Music Hall San Antonio, TX
Nov 08 Museum Cologne, Germany
Nov 09 Schaubude Kiel, Germany
Nov 10 Muziekcaféen Copenhagen, Denmark
Nov 12 Schlachthof Kassel, Germany
Nov 13 Esperanza Schwäbisch Gemünd, Germany
Dec 06 Neo Zurich, Switzerland
Dec 10 Viva Ska Vegas Las Vegas, NV