Big D and the Kids Table are coming back to Paper Tiger in January

The Boston ska-punk lifers return to the same San Antonio room they played in 2024, with Omnigone along for a Saturday night on Jan 9.

When Big D and the Kids Table last played San Antonio, in August 2024, it was at Paper Tiger. When they come back, it will be the same stage, the same horns, and probably a lot of the same people skanking in front of it. Big D and the Kids Table play Paper Tiger on Saturday, Jan 9, 2027, at 8pm, with Omnigone opening. Tickets are $20 to $25 through See Tickets. The date was announced Oct 27.

Big D are one of the long-running bands of American ska punk. They formed in Boston in October 1995, when the members came together in college, and early on they ran their own label, Fork in Hand Records, which ended up releasing records by a stable of Boston-area bands and helped build a scene there. Their first release was a 1998 split with the punk band Drexel. The 1999 album *Good Luck* is considered a third-wave classic, and that same year they won Outstanding Ska Band at the Boston Music Awards.

The catalog since has moved between modes. *How It Goes* in 2004 leaned into skate punk and ska punk. *Fluent in Stroll* in 2009 went toward dub, ska and reggae, and 2011's *For the Damned, the Dumb & the Delirious* swung back to ska punk. In 2013 they split the difference with a pair of albums, *Stomp* and *Stroll*, one for each side of the band.

What has stayed constant is the live show. At one point, the band was playing around 200 shows a year, and they became regulars on the Warped Tour. Their lyrics often draw on their own lives, especially the money troubles many of the members have dealt with, which is part of why the crowds sing along like the songs are about them too.

Same stage, same horns, and probably a lot of the same people skanking in front of it.

The opener is a familiar pairing. Omnigone shared the road with Big D on a West Coast run in early 2025, a tour that kicked off Feb 28 in San Diego. Seeing the two together again in San Antonio is a good sign for anyone who wants a full night of it, not just a headline set.

Paper Tiger holds 1,000, which is a good size for a band like this: big enough to feel like an event, small enough that the pit and the horn section are never far apart. Coming back to the same room after a little over two years also says something about how the last one went.

The practical notes are short. The show starts at 8pm on a Saturday, tickets run $20 to $25 depending on tier, and they are linked from this page. January in San Antonio is about as forgiving as winter gets, so there is no excuse not to dance.

Thirty years in, Big D are still doing what they built their name on: loud, horn-driven shows in rooms like this one. Paper Tiger gets another one in January.

Sources: Big D and the Kids Table — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); How It Goes — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); Fluent in Stroll — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); For the Damned, the Dumb & the Delirious — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); Stomp (album) — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); Stroll (album) — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); 3 ska-centric bands head to the West Coast — Scene Point Blank (scenepointblank.com); The Kilograms to head out on US tour; appearing with Big D & The Kids Table on select dates — Real Gone (realgonerocks.com); Big D & the Kids' Table/Drexel review — Ink 19 (ink19.com); Big D & The Kids Table — Stomp Records (stomprecords.com)