Anniversary Edition Features 3 New Songs, Never Before Heard Demos, And The Entire Original Record Remastered
Canadian indie legends Lowest of the Low are celebrating 35 years of their beloved platinum-selling album Shakespeare My Butt with a special Ontario anniversary tour this spring. The tour features stops in Kingston, Ottawa, Hamilton, and Guelph, and due to overwhelming
demand, a sold-out show at Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall has led to the addition of a second night.
To commemorate the milestone, the band is releasing a special 35th Anniversary Edition of the iconic record, featuring remastered versions of all the original songs across two Vinyl records, plus Limbotown Revisited, a third Vinyl containing the original 1991 demos of “Eternal Fatalist” and “Salesmen, Cheats and Liars”, alongside 3 brand new tracks. The Anniversary edition features a limited embossed cover, and will be available for purchase May 8.
Says Hawkins about writing the seminal album, “There is no logic to success. Anyone who tells you they have a key is lying to you. We’d been working away as Popular Front for the better part of five years or so, writing big issue songs…songs about faraway places and historical events. We were humming along, but nothing was really catching fire.
One day, I accidentally applied that old adage, ‘write what you know.’ I think I may have written Under The Carlaw Bridge, and suddenly something very magical happened. The more I turned my attention to the personal, the more universal it seemed to be, and the effect on the people coming out to see us was palpable.
We changed our name to Lowest of the Low (which all my friends thought was a stupid idea) and I continued to focus on the people around us and the local haunts we frequented. And then the magic began. I was walking the streets of Toronto with a notebook in my backpack. I was broke and newly single and felt like the protagonist in the film of my life. The universe handed me a set of tools and said, ‘here ya go k id, knock yerself out.’”Shakespeare My Butt remains a landmark in Canadian indie music, earning a Top 10 spot on ChartMagazine’s 100 Greatest Canadian Albums of All Time on three separate occasions. The record’s sharp wit, infectious hooks, and airtight harmonies propelled it to become the best-selling independent release in Canadian history at the time.
The celebrations follow last year’s Over Years and Overnight, their latest record, that may well be their most personal and collaborative yet. The LP blends sharp lyrical storytelling with a tapestry of indie rock, ska, and punk-infused melodies, continuing the band’s legacy as uncompromising narrators of humanity, love, and socio-political truths.
Lowest Of the Low, which comprises David Alexander, Ron Hawkins, Lawrence Nichols, Michael McKenzie, and Greg Smith, has been selling out shows across Canada and the U.S. for decades. Their enduring impact was further cemented in 2024 with the release of the Apple TV+ documentary Subversives – The History of the Lowest of the Low. Renowned for their electrifying live performances, LOTL built a devoted following that continues to grow.
Their contributions to the Canadian music landscape have been recognized with a 102.1 The Edge Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Canadian Indie Rock Hall of Fame in 2008.
2026 Tour Dates
MAY 01 – Kingston, ON – The Broom Factory (All Ages)
MAY 02 – Ottawa, ON – The Bronson Centre
MAY 08 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
MAY 09 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall [SOLD OUT]
MAY 15 – Hamilton, ON – Bridgeworks [SOLD OUT]
MAY 16 – Guelph, ON – Sonic Hall [SOLD OUT]
MAY 17 – Guelph, ON – Sonic Hall (All Ages)
PRE-ORDER here.