Joy District

The night kicked off with Denman Island rockers Joy District. Loud, punkish vocals and guitars were coupled with complex drum rhythms with non-stop energy.

Most songs, like opener I’ve Been Watching, had catchy choruses, with lots of energy and emotion, but I found they got too repetitive and weren’t very interesting lyrically. At times their sound was also a little messy and the vocals unclear.

The standout song, Play the Fool, was catchy, assured and fun, with their strongest melodic riffs yet. According to the band, it’s about “having fun and being foolish in the summertime,” but rather than the laid-back feel this might imply, grungy guitars and Eli Hilberry’s deeper and rawer vocals gave it a dark, reckless energy and an almost-country, garage-rock sound.

The theme of their closing number, Burned, was “sticking it to the man,” and it was a suitably rousing, militant singalong. Here is one instance where constant repetition of one line (“always play with fire”) for the bulk of the song worked.

Joy District sounds best and most confident when they’re playing in their harder, punchier punk-rock style, rather than their more melancholy choruses, as long as they keep their sound polished. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do as they develop a tighter musical identity. - Geyser Music

Arriving a wee bit late Joy District had already started by the time I got there, and the four piece band had the crowd rocking and almost in full mosh pit hysteria. This crazy rowdiness lasted for much of their whole set and it was easy to see that they had many fans in house for the night. Honestly, I was not a fan of their cover of Combat Baby, but the song before it was a newer song, Touch the Sound, that was pretty freaking awesome.
The band ended the night with a song that I think they said was called Burned, which was definitely a fun and energetic way to go out. I will have to listen to them again when I can give them more of my attention. - Vies Magazine