The Toasters – Lobster – Just Dropped In Records – Coventry – Sunday September 13th 2026
The record shop is full, there are punks, rude boys, kids and general miscreants going absolutely bonkers as a saxophonist winds his way through the crowd. The manager of the record shop is standing on the counter filming the mayhem and everyone is grinning. The bar is doing a raging business and the overwhelming feeling is of togetherness and belonging. Coventry has a bit of a thing with Ska, I don’t think I need to explain any more, but when Ska comes to town it’s going to be a good night.
You may notice that there are no photos of Lobster, we don’t know why, it is Friday the 13th! There are a lot of people on the stage, two guitars, bassist, trumpeter, organist and drummer and they’re all really really young, in direct contrast to the majority of the crowd! Who embrace this bunch of youthful musicians and make them their own. This lot are really tight, they start off slowly with a nice ska bounce, harmonies and a really good sound. They speed up and so do the small section of the crowd dancing. It’s a nice and easy vibe here with a crowd full of Cov faces, old punks and skinheads and teenagers getting into it big style. You can tell this is what they love, they’ve worked hard at this. They are having a laugh and playing bloody well, they get fast and the elevator dancing starts, the trumpet is the icing on the cake.
They say they’re going to play a song as they’re in Coventry and launch into ‘Do The Dog’, it’s an ace version. Fast hard and like a swift punch to the head. They go into a slow reggae groove with a massive fuzzy bass, he’s on the dancefloor singing and dancing to the slow, dense rhythm, it’s good to see a band this together.
He tells us there’s records for sale at the back and if you’re quick there’s a second hand one somewhere in the shop for a tenner! Why buy it from us? It goes into a nice choppy guitar sound and the groove provided by the trumpet, then they play a blinding cover of Paranoid with the organ providing Iommi’s riffs, excellent!
They slide into a heavier reggae sound that speeds up into a ska style, there’s not many not dancing now as the trumpet lifts it even higher. They do a Gorillaz track and it’s turned into a proper punky reggae party. The last song is another cover of The Guns of Brixton and it’s hard as nails, people are singing along with the passion of true Clash fans. It’s an ace set from a band I’ll be seeing again.
The Toasters look harder and older, New York Ska the banner says and they hold the accolade of being the starting point of the US ska second wave, much like the Specials were here in the UK. So it’s a pleasure to see them here in Coventry. They start off with proper ska punk, loose and free and keep the groove going all evening. They have a trombone and saxophone so my night is made, they are pretty damn wonderful. The crowd is bouncing as they play, appropriately enough, two tone army, it’s thunderously heavy with an ace hey hey chant. The band is dancing, the crowd are dancing, shouting and moving. It’s a brilliant atmosphere. They’re a great band, playing feel good sounds for an audience that they had with the word Ska. They’d have to be really terrible to not go down well, luckily they’re ace.
They slide into a pure John Barry soundtrack swirl that slow ska, ‘Are You Ready?’ Then faster ska punk and yet another great groove, it’s two tone purity. Music to dance to, and we do. The singer talks about Radio Caroline and they play a slower smooth tune, they stomp up the beat and then back to a punk ska skanking loveliness. The band are all over this, the crowd are going bonkers to them.
They play fast punked out ska and slow hi hat bass driven ska, they play hard and they play soft, listen, it’s ska, there’s not that much to say, if you like ska, this lot are the bees knees. There’s a saxophonist playing in the middle of the crowd, there’s kids and oldies dancing side by side all the way back in the crowd, there are stories and interaction with the crowd and for a Sunday night feelgood gig it’s just perfect. Even the one they haven’t practised is tight as hell. ‘What time do we have to finish?’
‘Eleven’ from the crowd, for context, it’s about ten to nine.. They end with a fantastic psychedelic breakdown and a stomping soul beat like if Motown had done ska. The last song is ‘Don’t Let the Bastards Grind You Down’ which is a good way of summing the whole thing up really. A brilliant gig from masters of their craft.
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The Toaster
Lobster’s website is lobstertheband.co.uk, they are also on Facebook and Instagram.
The Toasters’ website is thetoasters.band, they are also on Instagram and Facebook.
All words by Adrian Bloxham, all pictures by Martin Ward.
