A night of noses, nails, and pop rock
On Friday, March 4, 2016, DSTRCT held Friday on the Fringe as part of Gain Music and Arts Festival.
The event was hosted by Orbax and Pepper, alternatively known as the Monsters of Schlock, who are two comedic entertainers that were garmented in black kilts.
For the first act of the night, Orbax confronted the audience by telling them he was going to perform a stunt and hammer a nail into his nose. The crowd shuffled closer and closer to the stage for a clearer view, and Orbax called upon a girl to help him perform his stunt. He then hammered a small nail into his nose and shot it out like a snot rocket. After cracking a few jokes, and finding out his volunteer was from Bellwood, Orbax grabbed a bigger nail measuring five and three-quarter inches.
His guest from the audience went on to ensure that it was indeed a real nail before he performed “The Human Blockhead,” and hammered the nail into his nasal cavity. As the nail remained in his nose, Orbax asked the girl to pull it out. He then began to go back and forth on the nail as the girl held it, calling it “the old Bellwood special.” “The Human Blockhead” mixed with “the old Bellwood special” provided mixed reviews from the crowd, but no matter how grotesque it got, they couldn’t keep their eyes away.
[pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]…upbeat set of raunchy pop and alternative rock…[/pullquote]
The first band to take the stage was Texas King, a high-energy indie band from London, Ontario. Their set was filled with upbeat pop rock originals that have the ability to cause episodes of déjà vu. Their music was the orthodox type of chew-it-up and spit-it-out pop, but the stage presence of Texas King turned the show into a party. After getting the audience on the tips of their toes, Texas King hyped up the next band, The Honest Heart Collective, and thanked everyone for coming out.
The Honest Heart Collective gathered on the stage and began to provide a pop rock set. From Thunder Bay, The Honest Heart Collective is made up of Ryan MacDonald on vocals and guitar, Nic MacDonald on vocals and bass, Jay Savage on drums, Kevin Heerema on guitar, Conner Harris on keys, and Keenan Kosolowski on guitar.
MacDonald told everyone a brief story about their next song, which was about their drummer, Savage, telling the biggest guy in a bar that he wanted to go outside to talk because he couldn’t hear him, but instead he was met outside by six guys and a few jabs.
“This song’s called “Haymaker,” said MacDonald.
The Honest Heart Collective got some scattered responses throughout their set, but their fans still danced the night away while singing along to their choruses. They gave an upbeat set of raunchy pop and alternative rock, and avid fans grabbed at every bit of it that they could get. Right before the last chorus of their last song, MacDonald thanked everyone for coming out, and as the song peaked, all of the guitar players raised their guitars in the air.
“For five dollars you can fire a staple into Sweet Pepper,” said Orbax.
Orbax and Pepper took back the show during intermission, and got everyone prepared for their next stunt. For five dollars they were giving the opportunity to staple hard earned cash to Pepper. A drunken member of the audience quickly handed a fiver, but Orbax gave it back saying he would need it. The volunteer stapled the bill to Pepper’s shoulder and then blurted out, “That’s fucked up!”
To which Pepper yelled in agony, “Thanks Rob!”
The last band of the night to perform was Earth’s Yellow Sun, an instrumental metal band from Toronto. The seven-piece band consists of Josh Hanff on guitar, Gio Campanelli on keys and synth, Duncan Stan on bass, Julien Bigras on drums, Murray Heaton on alto sax, Brian Dhari on tenor sax and Savic Panylyk on tenor/baritone sax. Earth’s Yellow Sun played a set of orchestrated metal with audio clips between songs that tied the loose ends together.
After two songs from their first album, Hanff stated, “We’re going to play everything from our second EP [The Infernal Machine] front to back. It’s about a robot that comes to fuck up everybody’s shit.”
Earth’s Yellow Sun packed a punch and mesmerized the crowd. What they couldn’t say with words they were able to say with their instruments. Their music was chaotic and clashing until all seemed resolved and the music disintegrated into more mellow instrumental pieces that gave the entire set a balance between chaos and serenity.