{"id":88015,"date":"2026-06-14T15:40:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T15:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/88015\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T15:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T15:40:07","slug":"the-toronto-music-scene-has-a-banana-man-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/88015\/","title":{"rendered":"The Toronto music scene has a \u2018Banana Man\u2019 situation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toronto is in the global spotlight this week, and not just because of the World Cup<\/a>. The world also seems transfixed on a man in a banana suit. And it hasn\u2019t been going well for the banana.<\/p>\n

On June 5, a hardcore band called Terror headlined a show at Lithuanian House on a tour supporting their album, Still Suffer. Also on the bill was End It, a hardcore band from Baltimore. When they took the stage, they couldn\u2019t help notice the giant banana in the audience, or, more correctly, a man in a sparkly banana suit.<\/p>\n

This was Banana Man<\/a>, a guy named Scott who has made a habit of going to rock gigs dressed this way. He\u2019s been spotted crowd-surfing at a Rise Against Show (his second time) and in a giant circle pit at a gig by System of a Down. <\/a>He clearly loves what he does and has connected with moshers all over the city at hardcore, metal, punk and emo gigs.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have been trying to dim my sparkle my entire life,\u201d he posted on his Instagram stories, bananagate_to.<\/a> \u201cIt sucks, but I\u2019m used to it. I\u2019ve surfered [sic] hundreds of people in this suit, all genders, all ages, safely. Especially, a lot of first-timers that felt safe to approach me for their first surf.\u201d<\/p>\n

His banana suits take a beating, but he considers it normal wear and tear. He\u2019s gone through three so far.<\/p>\n

Back to the show on June 5. End It frontman Akil Godsey would have none of Banana Man\u2019s fun, so he basically put a bounty on him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just gonna address it. Do you want to do this now or later?\u201d Godsey said. \u201cBanana Man, what the f\u2013k is you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

The crowd cheered. The reaction annoyed Godsey.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no, no, no, no, you don\u2019t get rewarded for doing that sh-t. He wanted the attention, and now he has it.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point, the bassist stepped in.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now, everyone here has to kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Godsey then said, \u201cAnd now, if you strip the banana, you get this lovely set list,\u201d as he brandished a big handwritten set list. \u201cI\u2019m just saying, he was asking for attention. Now you got it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those closest to Banana Man immediately set on him like rabid wolverines, and the banana suit was destroyed in seconds. The headpiece was later tossed around through the crowd like some bounty in Game of Thrones.<\/p>\n

Banana Man was, of course, angered and hurt. A Reddit poster said, \u201cI saw banana guy outside between sets. Poor dude was sulking, said he was beat up and sore. He said he was more sad about not having the costume anymore \ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2642\ufe0f.\u201d<\/p>\n

He issued this statement<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201c@enditbaltmore two of your band members crossed the line\u2026and I\u2019m obligated to speak on it. F\u2013k the police? While, policing what people wear? Take off, hoser. The message last night; Conform or get called out, exactly the opposite of what Hardcore is supposed to be. I was an unwilling participant, attacked and clothing removed at the direction of a band I paid to see\u2026 What would you do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Those I\u2019ve talked to say that the Banana Man situation has split (sorry) the Toronto hardcore community. Some people say Banana Man is just a sad attention-seeker, while others are celebrating this expression of non-conformity and getting lost in the joy of music.<\/p>\n

People have been wearing strange and dumb costumes to gigs for years. This is not a new thing created by Banana Man. Audience members have been dressing outlandishly for gigs since at least the punk days of the mid-\u201970s. A guy in a banana costume? Cool cool cool.<\/p>\n

Today, it\u2019s not uncommon for fans to wear bald caps to Pitbull shows.<\/a> Been to any gig by Sabrina Carpenter<\/a>? How many people were wearing sparkly costumes? For decades, Kiss fans spent hours on their makeup for heading out. Ever been to a goth show? Superman and Santa Claus outfits have been seen at metal gigs. I once got bumped by a T. rex on its way into the pit. They had to elbow a couple of Pikachus and a SpongeBob out of the way. And let\u2019s not even start on the clothing\/costuming prep that faces a hardcore Taylor Swift<\/a> or Beyonc\u00e9<\/a> fan. In fact, when the latter played Texas in 2023, the result was a shortage of silver clothes<\/a> in the northern part of the state.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a wild stat from Censuswide:<\/a> More than 7.5 million \u201csingle-use outfits for concerts or festivals\u201d are purchased every year in the U.K. alone. That\u2019s an expenditure of around 2.7 billion pounds (about $5 billion) just this summer.<\/p>\n

Listen, if this cosplay isn\u2019t hurting anyone, what\u2019s the problem? And isn\u2019t the fun of Banana Man a-peeling? (Sorry again.)<\/p>\n