Impose Magazine

Scene and Heard

The Tossers at the Double Door, Chicago IL

Photos by Will Deitz » With every passing year, the durability of Chicago’s best-known Irish-punk export becomes more and more apparent, and, correspondingly, more and more remarkable. After all, these are the Tossers; they rifle through bottles of Amstel Light, stumbling and spitting, occasionally even wandering out the stage doors mid-sentence.

Text by Will Deitz
Posted on December 18, 2008

Every other song concerns the pleasures and perils of alcohol, and every other concertgoer seems to find him or herself in a fight at some point. That the Tossers have managed to keep this going for over fifteen years has turned them into one of the finer institutions of the Irish-punk scene, and last Friday, they celebrated the release of their latest studio album, On A Fine Spring Evening, with a three-hour set at the Double Door.

Front man and mandolinist Tony Duggins’ ability to transition seamlessly from ballad to speed-punk was excellent as ever, and crowd favorites (of which, in a thirty song set, there were many) went over unsurprisingly well. A complete run-through of On A Fine Spring Evening was also well received, which bodes well for its future in the Tossers canon. Between songs, Duggins’ banter included how the Double Door’s crowd should collectively sue Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, how “the White Sox are the only fucking team in Chicago,” and how anyone complaining about not having a job should “go get another fucking job.” Blue-collar punk rockers apparently have little pity for white-collar unemployment.

Tossers shows are like chicken soup for the Irish-punk soul, because they never seem to change. Aaron Duggins will always be to his brother’s right, playing the tin whistle when he works up the willpower. The diminutive Rebecca Manthe will always be wedged in between them with her fiddle, leg flailing as she stamps to keep time. Guitarist Mike Pawla and bassist Dan Shaw will always be next to each other, singing or screaming as necessary. And drummer Bones will always be positioned directly beneath the skull-and-crossbones banner. That’s the way their fans like it, and that’s the way it will stay.

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