Winnipeg’s most famous folk-rock group, Crash Test Dummies, have announced a reunion tour. They’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of their breakthrough album, 1993’s God Shuffled His Feet, which featured their unique smash hit, Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.
On the band’s official Facebook page, they revealed they would be playing their highly-successful sophomore album front-to-back. The quintet will commence their anniversary tour in the United States.
WATCH BELOW: Crash Test Dummies’ smash hit, Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
A reunited photo surfaced back in July featuring four of the five original band members: Brad Roberts, Dan Roberts, Ellen Reid and Mitch Dorge. It was posted to the official Crash Test Dummies Facebook page, accompanied by a handful of Canadian dates for the fall.
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Other than their major success with God Shuffled His Feet, the band gained only mild attention within Canada. This forced an entire change to their musical approach and sound, which “ostracized” their homeland fans. There was no winning.
Their tunes sparked more interest within the U.S., so they moved to New York and toured the states up until their commercial failure of albums A Worm’s Life and Give Yourself a Hand.
“After a huge hit in Canada with our folksier debut album, our next effort was dubbed ‘too new a sound’ by our Canadian compatriots,” said Roberts in a statement. “In America, however, it managed to pique the interest of a new and frankly much larger group of listeners and soon Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm became a bona fide hit south of our border, and eventually all over the world. It was a wild ride for us that year. Now we’re celebrating the 25th anniversary reuniting with our original line-up and dusting off our old set lists. We’re very excited about it.”
Post-God album delays and lineup changes ultimately led to two hiatuses in the last decade. After seven years of uncertainty and various other Brad Roberts side projects, this year’s western Canadian mini-tour was revealed as the Crash Test Dummies’ comeback.
The six Canadian shows are separate from the God Shuffled His Feet shows and will act only as a brief warmup for the folk-rockers. Nov. 23 marks the beginning of their 12-date run in the U.S. It will end Dec. 8 in New York City.
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It is to be assumed longtime touring members, Stuart Cameron and Murray Pulver, will be on the road for this tour, however, still no sign of mandolin/harmonica prodigy and original member, Benjamin Darvill.
Darvill left the Dummies back in 2000 to focus on his solo career as “Son of Dave,” and shows no signs of making a return.
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No Canadian shows have been officially announced for the God Shuffled His Feet celebration, however, Crash Test Dummies confirmed they’d return home to the Great White North to conclude the run.
If you’re quick, you can catch the Afternoons & Coffeespoons rockers for their warm-up shows. Tickets are available on their official website.
Crash Test Dummies 2018 tour dates:
Sept. 27 – Lloydminster, AB @Vic Juba Community Theatre
Sept. 28 – Sherwood Park, AB @ Festival Place
Sept. 29 – Calgary, AB @ Deerfoot Inn & Casino
Oct. 10 – Saskatoon, SK @ Broadway Theatre
Oct. 11 – Regina, SK @ Casino Regina Show Lounge
Oct. 12 – Winnipeg, MB @ Club Regent Casino
Nov. 23 – St. Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theater
Nov. 24 -Chicago, IL @ Old Town School of Folk
Nov. 25 – Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot Ballroom
Nov. 27 – Kent, OH @ Kent Stage
Nov. 29 – West Collingswood, NJ @ Scottish Rite
Nov. 30 – Washington, DC @ The Hamilton
Dec. 2 – Charleston, WV @ Mountain Stage
Dec. 4 – Boston, MA @ Wilbur Theatre
Dec. 5 – Ridgefield, CT @ Ridgefield Playhouse
Dec. 7 – Fall River, MA @ Narrow Center for the Arts
Dec. 8 – New York, NY @ The Concert Hall
Canadian shows are bolded.
adam.wallis@globalnews.ca