The Toasters - 45 YEARS IN SKA TOUR 2026

With nearly 40 years of band history, 6,000 live performances, and 100% kickass—the ska band THE TOASTERS is an institution and is counted among the top 20 bands by the legendary New York City club CBGB. The band was founded on New York’s Lower East Side in 1981 by Robert “Bucket” Hingley, who remains the band’s frontman to this day. Since then, THE TOASTERS have released nine studio albums and numerous EPs and singles, many of them on their own label, “Moon Ska Records.” They are considered the pioneers of the 1990s ska explosion in the U.S. and have developed their own unique style in the process. In doing so, they influenced many other bands in the years that followed.

“In my opinion, The Toasters are to ska in America in the 1980s and beyond what The Specials were to ska in the U.K. in the late ’70s and early ’80s, and what the Skatalites were to ska in Jamaica in the 1960s. The Toasters were innovators, creators, and shapers of the music, evolving it in a fresh direction and blending it with cultural influences in a very American way—and I mean that as a complete compliment. Just as Byron Lee & the Dragonaires brought professionalism and polish to ska, allowing others to benefit from the fruits of their labor, so too did the Toasters’ music allow numerous other bands to share in the spotlight of skill and success—many of whom have gone on to great heights. Standing on the shoulders of giants. Oh, yeah, and they kick ass!” — Heather Augustyn, author of *SKA: An Oral History*.

After nearly four decades, THE TOASTERS are now stepping on the gas, not the brakes. With undiminished energy, the band continues to tour the world, thrilling their fans in the U.S., Canada, Poland, France, England, and, of course, Germany. To mark their anniversary, the tour schedule also includes gigs in South America, Russia, and Asia.