The Toasters to perform at Bates

In a show appropriate for all ages, the Toasters, a New York City ska band, will perform at Bates College at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 18, in the Clifton Daggett Gray Athletic Building. Mrs. SKAnnotto, a ska/reggae/punk group with Bates College roots, also will perform. Tickets are $8 and available at all Bull Moose Record locations. Tickets will be available at the door, open at 7 p.m., if the concert is not sold out in advance. For more information, call the Chase Hall Concert Committee at 207-795-7496.

Dubbed “ska pioneers” by Billboard magazine, the Toasters have cemented their place in the ska continuum as America’s premiere ska band since recording their first single in 1983, under the leadership of British emigre Rob “Bucket” Hingley. With constant domestic and international touring and seven recorded albums, the band was the first U.S. ska group to have recordings released simultaneously in Japan, Europe and South America.

The Toasters have founded Moon Ska Records, America’s first independent all-ska record label, which describes the ska sound and scene as: “Ska music is a predominantly live phenomenon where the audience is closely integrated into both the live shows and the socio-cultural scene swirling around it: rudies, skins and punks, frat boys, moshers and rastas. It’s a musical blend that’s right for virtually every taste from hardcore to pop, from reggae to jazz.” Jamaican artists such as Skatalites, Laurel Aitken and Prince Buster introduced the genre in the early 1960s.