Music fans who learned to love the deep-voiced vocal stylings of Brad Roberts and the Crash Test Dummies in the early 1990s can experience a blast from the past on the Peninsula this month.
The bandB次元官网网址檚 international tour touches down in Sidney for shows on Aug. 22 and 23 at the Mary Winspear Centre. Audiences can expect songs from throughout the bandB次元官网网址檚 significant catalogue, as well as the entirety of the 1993 God Shuffled His Feet album as a way to honour its 30th anniversary.
Back on tour for eight months now following the pandemic-driven shutdown of concert venues, the band has been playing to mostly full houses, a good sign since many of the shows had to be rebooked from earlier dates, Roberts said.
B次元官网网址淲e just hoped that people would remember they bought tickets before and come back out to see us,B次元官网网址� he told Black Press Media while relaxing on a rare day off in New Mexico before an Aug. 11 show in Santa Fe.
Roberts said U.S. audiences respond differently to their music than folks back home in Canada.
The bandB次元官网网址檚 first album, 1991B次元官网网址檚 The Ghosts That Haunt Me, achieved good success in this country (400,000 in sales) powered by SupermanB次元官网网址檚 Song, B次元官网网址渨hich was a big hit only in Canada and not anywhere else, although we had pockets of support in America,B次元官网网址� he explained.
In contrast, album No. 2 God Shuffled His Feet B次元官网网址� RobertsB次元官网网址� bass-baritone features front and centre on the hit Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm B次元官网网址� did very well internationally.
The bandB次元官网网址檚 lead singer recalled how fans in Atlanta responded.
B次元官网网址淧eople took an interest in the song and were calling in to radio stations and asking B次元官网网址榳hat is that,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� he said of a song that reached No. 4 on the US Hot 100, No. 2 in the UK and No. 1 in Australia, but only No. 14 in Canada.
Here, the album peaked at No. 11 B次元官网网址� subsequent singles Afternoons and Coffeespoons, Swimming in Your Ocean and the title track boosted sales B次元官网网址� but it was the No. 9 ranking on the Billboard 200 list and No. 2 peak on the UK albums chart that have driven sales of the album to more than five million copies worldwide.
Having followed up the European leg of the tour with shows in the southern U.S., the band was scheduled to begin its West Coast swing Aug. 13 and opens the final leg through Canada Aug. 21 at the Hollywood Theatre in Vancouver. They wind up with a pair of shows in their hometown in late September accompanied by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
Having reconvened with longtime band members Ellen Reid, Dan Roberts and Mitch Dorge in 2017 after a hiatus of five years or so, Roberts, 58, enjoys being back on the road. He crowed about the amazing hospitality in Europe B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渢he coffee is unbelievableB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� and appreciates the more sane pace of their schedule that has allowed them to travel largely by van.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e been enjoying touring more than I did when I was a young man,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚t was extremely hard work, and the amount of press I did was unbelievable on the day of shows.B次元官网网址�
Roberts added the band is tighter now, a benefit of touring. Asked what he might say to fans looking to rekindle those memories, he was reminded of what one fan said after a show.
B次元官网网址淭hey told me you guys sound even better than you did in 1994. That compliment blew my mind.B次元官网网址�
Visit for tickets.
ALSO READ:
Do you have a story tip? Email: don.descoteau@blackpress.ca.
Follow us on and and like us on
