Released on February 18, 2003, Easy Star All-Stars released their timeless album Dub Side of the Moon, the dub reggae tribute to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. To promote the 11th year of their release, ESAS will tour 13 west coast cities this September with Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad & Tatanka…
Currently on a successful European Tour with Backbeat Soundsystem, ESAS will hit Florida in August and New York before heading out West to hit 13 cities, starting September 6th in Crystal Bay, NV. Joining the Easy Star All-Stars on this tour, will be Denver, Colorado natives, Tatanka as well as reggae heavy hitters Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad (who will join in Tacoma, WA on Sept 17). In addition to the line-up, Lem Oppenheimer of Easy Star Records mentioned that at many of the shows, depending on the venue, they will have some animations they’ve been using at shows on the East Coast since the spring. A little visual flair to play opposite of the music.
On the addition of Tatanka to the tour line up, Lem explained: “We just liked what we saw of their show at Cali Roots – They utilize some classic riddims in modern ways, dub out a little differently than we do, and have a fun show that I think will complement the other two bands. Plus, they are fun guys to hang out with!”
This will be great timing for Tatanka as they’ll have a brand new album that drops on Sept 9th to take with them on tour. As for Giant Panda, they’ll get to reunite with their friends in Easy Star All-Stars as they toured together a couple years ago. Lem adds that, “Maybe we’ll get some interesting cross-playing during the sets. Never know”.
Along with this tour, Easy Star All-Stars will also be putting out their Special Edition Dub Side Release September 16th, smack dab in the middle of their tour! It has new packaging that includes a 12 page booklet that dives deeper into the Dub Side history with some stories as well as two bonus tracks. One will be a dub of “Brain Damage” and then there is “Breathe 2014” which has some of the original vocals of the late, great Sluggy Ranks followed by new vocals from Eric Rachmany of Rebelution a long with chatting from Ruff Scott (part of the ESAS touring unit) and Metric Man from the NYC area.
While there were plans to have the Special Edition release out for its 10th anniversary, when you run a busy label, that just means you get to celebrate it on the 11th year! In closing, here’s what Lem left us with:
“We’re sorry it’s taken so long to get out! We’ve teased it for a while, but it’s been a fantastic, busy period for us here since last April, with albums from John Brown’s Body, Cas Haley, The Green, Passafire, and Rebelution. So we kept putting this project on the back-burner so we could focus on the newer releases. So we keep making the Spinal Tap joke – It was supposed to be coming out on the 10-year anniversary, but instead it’s on the 11th – this one goes to 11!”
Easy Star All Stars Tour Dates
Related Links:
Easy Star Website
ESAS Facebook
Giant Panda Website
Giant Panda Facebook
Tatanka Website
Tatanka Facebook
Article By: Andrew McClatchy
Watch: Easy Star All-Stars – “Great Gig in The Sky”