Written and photos by Craig McGreggor
The competition for best emo puppet band may be tight but one local act reigns sadly supreme. Fragile Rock, the creation of local comedian Brently Heilbron and a cauldron of local puppeteers, improvisers, comics and musicians moved and rocked the crowd that only a band of felt could. This show was extra special and extra sad due to unfortunate absence of their lead singer, Mylo S (Brently Heilbron) due to undisclosed puppet illnesses. Stepping into the lead role effortlessly for the first time was back up singer Briex Coxteaux (Emily Cawood). The band rocked through a 45 minute set, riffing and arguing playfully off each other between songs. Minor spats and arguments eventually led to the crowd siding with sullen and hoodie-worn guitarist Kyle Danko (Chadwick Smith) with supportive chants and a request for a solo acoustic song. While that wasn’t quite delivered, the band did treat the audience to hell of a puppet rendition of Talking Head’s Psycho Killer. Fragile Rock was recognized last year for putting together a David Bowie tribute, complete with Ziggy Stardust-sized puppet. Perhaps they could call up local Talking Head’s cover band Heartbyrne and perform a one-off massive David Byrne tribute? I’ll hold back the tears until then.
