The Toucan
This poster collection is dedicated to The Toucan, Kingston’s legendary pub that opened it’s doors on March 17, 1986. Over the decades the Toucan stage has hosted an incredible mix of local heroes, touring bands, and groups whose van probably broke down somewhere between Ottawa and Toronto but decided to play a show anyway.
Fun Toucan lore: Gary used to run hip hop DJ nights at the Toucan, a reminder that the music coming out of that room has never been confined to just one scene.
The posters below capture a small slice of that history. Some legendary bands. Some deeply questionable band names. A few genuinely great designs thrown in for good measure. All part of the Toucan story. Also proof that Kingston posters have never lacked personality.
For more on Kingston’s live music scene, check out our “Must See” section where we dive into venues like The Toucan and Kirkpatrick’s. And if you’re hunting for bonus poster content, check out our Mahones post, it’s got a few extra Toucan gems you won’t want to miss. You’ll also find tags at the bottom of the page… click through if you want to fall down a rabbit hole of posts featuring some of the bands in this collection.
Artists appearing in this collection: Al Black, Ass Machine, Atomic Beliveaus, The Bentlemen, The Beta 58’s, The Binge, Buck Jones, The Charming Ruins, Change of Heart, China Cat Riders, Chris Page, C’mon C’mon C’mon, Dan Curtis, Espanola and Glenn Milchem, Fat Spider, Footbags, Fred’s Lounge, Gigantis, Hell Billys, Howlin’ Drunk & The Teamsters, The Huaraches, Hungry Tim, Ian Blurton’s Future Now, The Inbreds, Jab, Kevin Bowers, Liquorbox, The Lost Cause, Los Seamonsters, Lowest of the Low, Madam Raz, The Mahones, Me Man Jack, Mississippi Grover, Muffler Crunch, Mugworts, Owl Farm, Pat Shanks, Pat Temple and the HI LO Players, Pete Bowers, Pineapple Frank Barth, PS I Love You, Reuben Degroot, The Reckoning, The Reverb Syndicate, Screamin’ Sins, Shine, Slaves of Spanky, Spencer Evans, Smartest Monkeys, Squid Lid, The Shermans, The Skatterbrains, The Smalls, The Stonecutters, Terry Wilkins, The Van Allen Belt, The Woodshed Orchestra, Teenage Frankenstein, Thorax, Travelling Troubadours
