Crash Test Dummies: Celebrating 35+ years

Crash Test Dummies remain one of Canada’s most singular alt‑rock voices. Formed in Winnipeg and propelled to global attention in the early 1990s, the band has held fast to a folk‑tinged, alternative sound shaped by Brad Roberts’ unmistakable baritone and the harmonies and keyboards of Ellen Reid. Their catalogue has moved between acoustic textures, electric turns and pop‑leaning grooves, always grounded in narrative songwriting. Along the way came three Grammy nominations and a JUNO, and a body of songs that still hits home decades on.

On 14 October 2026 at Islington Assembly Hall in London, they mark 35+ years with a live set that looks across their history. Original members Brad Roberts, Ellen Reid, Dan Roberts and Mitch Dorge are back together onstage, joined by longtime guitarist Stuart Cameron and keyboardist Leith Fleming‑Smith. The night leans on the band’s defining elements — Roberts’ deep timbre, Reid’s folk‑rock colours, tight rhythms and layered harmonies — to revisit the hits and dust off deeper cuts, tracing the band’s route from early acoustic storytelling to later, more electric shades.