As the fallout continues to reverberate from the banana man incident that occurred during last weekend’s set in Toronto, Ontario by hardcore band End It, the then-costumed concertgoer in question has newly given an interview about his experiences at that show. If you’ve somehow missed the footage and resulting discourse, that banana costume-adorned concertgoer was singled out by End It from the stage, with the group’s frontman Akil Godsey offering up the band’s setlist that night to whoever tore apart the banana costume in question.
You can watch that incident play out in this footage. Upon placing the bounty on banana man from the stage Godsey warned the the concertgoer, aka Scott from Toronto, that “he was asking for attention, now you got it.” Members of the audience were quick to react to Godsey‘s call, with the banana costume being physically torn off the concertgoer by various members of the crowd and tossed around before the end of the next song.
According to banana man, a piece of his costume was even tied around the mic stand later into the set. He also went on to say that didn’t suffer any significant injuries as a result of the melee that ensued regarding his costume.
End It were an opening band that night, and in this new chat on the ‘Beardo & Weirdo‘ show, hosted by Five Finger Death Punch bassist/vocalist Chris Kael and comedian Craig Gass, banana man revealed that he was actually there to see Terror, who were headlining.
Asked by the Kael and Gass if he suspected to be the target of such an attack that night, banana man relayed [transcribed by theprp.com]:
“There was no pretext to it that I understood. I also didn’t do hours of research on this band before arriving to the show, cause like you said, I was there for the headliner.”
When asked by co-host Gass if he was aware if End It are known for ‘harassing people in the crowd”, banana man responded that he’s since heard of other instances, offering, “from what I understand, there’s been other incidents of banana hatred from them.” As seen on his social media, banana man had been attending shows in various banana costumes for some time now, and his decision to do so that night had nothing to do with End It.
As for what was going through his head a the time of Godsey calling him out, banana man went on to say:
“I think you can see my happiness as he calls me and I reach for a handshake and he goes, ‘No, no, no. You don’t get rewarded.’ I was gonna say, ‘Hey, Scott, welcome to Toronto,’ but that took a turn pretty quickly.”
Five Finger Death Punch bassist/vocalist Chris Kael went on to say that the incident infuriated him, while also calling out the band for what he perceived as hypocrisy for the, “F*ck the IDF, free Palestine, f*ck Israel & f*ck the police” statement made by Godsey directly after issuing the bounty on banana man:
“…Like the positive vibes that a hardcore show is supposed to be, getting the community together, and just having a good time. And it upset me so much. Especially after they get off there talking about the free Palestine thing, where [they were against] violence against Palestine, and then inciting violence on a fan who paid money to come to the show. That is insane to me.”
Gass added: “F the police and then followed by attack this guy… Like F like any kind of law and order, you know, and then attack…” Kael interjected:
“…And they turn it on your own people in the crowd. And I mean hardcore is known for like crowd killing. I love all that stuff. You know the hardcore dancing. It is kind of a violent thing, but to have… We’re all looking out for each other. That’s the vibe of a hardcore show. I mean, I’ve been growing up in hardcore in Lexington, Cincinnati, Vegas. I love the vibe. Knocked Loose is one of my favorite bands. And I go to these hardcore shows all the time. I have never seen anything like that.
I’ve seen fights in the crowd, sure, but nothing ever incited by the band. And that’s just, I mean you’re you’re fighting against so much stuff from crowd safety in the first damn place.”
Speaking later of resulting response to the now infamous banana man incident on the internet, Kael stated, “I mean, hardcore is known be tough, and to get upset over a banana costume?” Kael also went on to add:
“…We are all family. Whether it’s a metal show, whether it’s a hardcore show, people like him, he’s paid you money to come out and see the show. Have some respect and and love for your fans coming out that are doing that, you know? I mean, everybody’s working hard, going through life. You come to those shows as an as an escape from all that other stuff, man. And then to have to deal with that, oh, it lit me up so bad.”
Kael then went on to personally extend an invite to banana man to attend an upcoming Five Finger Death Punch show, and encouraged him to wear the banana costume should he desire. Banana man also relayed that End It made no gestures to smooth over the situation after their set in the form of merch or an apology for their behavior. When asked if he had a message for the band now, banana man replied, “just practice your stage show before you deliver it.”
Kael went on to further state that he will ensure banana man is treated well at an upcoming Toronto Five Finger Death Punch show, offering free merch and more to him. Kael further went on to say:
“I love hardcore music, I love metal. I love the community and to see something like that happen to someone in our community, I was outraged. So, I wanted to make sure we got a chance to get on here and talk to you about your experience and turn it around for you and get you out there to celebrate in Toronto with us.”
End It have yet to publicly address the banana man incident, though this week has seen group’s Facebook profile disappear. The band also went absent from the opening spot of a tour featuring Hatebreed and Life Of Agony they had been booked to open.
