Men at Work, Toad the Wet Sprocket, & Shonen Knife

Men At Work were born in Melbourne, Australia in the middle of 1979. The band went on to become a globally successful Grammy winning, multi-platinum selling act. The original band however came apart relatively quickly and had disintegrated by 1985. Colin Hay and Greg Ham responded to demand and toured many parts of the world as Men At Work from 1996 into the 2000’s. Sadly, Greg Ham passed away in 2012. Colin Hay has developed a solo career over the last 35 years, writing, recording, and touring extensively throughout the world as a solo artist. He is presently part of Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band. Since 2019, he has also toured and played under the Men At Work banner with his LA based group of musicians, where he plays an exclusively Men At Work set, including all the hits and dearly loved songs which clearly have stood the test of time.

Any music fan who grew up in the ‘90s, before the rise of streaming platforms, will tell you that when a record store clerk made a music recommendation, you took it seriously. Often well-studied music nerds, these unsung tastemakers had their finger on the pulse of lesser-known, excellent bands. So it speaks volumes that many of Toad the Wet Sprocket’s earliest champions were record store clerks who put the Santa Barbara quartet’s early albums into unsuspecting listeners’ hands, convincing them to overlook their unusual band name and give them a shot.  

And that’s all it took. Lead singer Glen Phillips’ heartfelt, introspective lyrics expressed in his deep, buttery croon backed by the earnest instrumentation, catchy melodies and vocal harmonies of guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning and drummer Randy Guss had fans hooked from the outset.

Toad’s third full-length album, Fear, went platinum after its 1991 release and spawned hits “All I Want” and “Walk on the Ocean,” both of which made it to the top 20 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. And let’s not forget all the quintessential ‘90s shows and movies that featured Toad songs including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson’s Creek, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Empire Records, and the platinum-selling Friends soundtrack (“Good Intentions”). Toad released Dulcinea in 1994, giving the band its second platinum album in a row. Recorded almost entirely live in a studio in the woods in Marin County in a room lit by hundreds of candles, the album features fan favorites “Fall Down” and “Windmills.” The band took a break in the late ‘90s, and the members left to pursue solo projects. They reunited in 2006, maintaining the original lineup for the next 15 years until drummer Randy Guss departed in 2020 due to health concerns. After reuniting, the band released New Constellation in 2013. Critics praised it for being an evolution for the band while still maintaining their signature sound and songcraft.

Even with everything that’s changed over the last few decades, one of the band’s main drivers has remained the same since they first started performing together in high school: bringing people together to experience music as a binding force and to help them feel like they belong.

Since their pure DIY beginnings in 1981, Osaka, Japan’s Shonen Knife have been building a faithful following of music enthusiasts and the alternative rock elite. Their relentless journey secured the band’s place as one of the pioneer ambassadors of Japanese rock music and culture on the international stage.