FIREFRIEND:
The latest Brazilian take on alternative rock is an eclectic group called FireFriend, a quartet that features a frenzied mix of heavy incantations and guitar riffs, sounding like American alt.rock devoured by Brazilian drums and ghosts. Lying somewhere between Sonic Youth, Queens Of The Stone Age, and William S. Burroughs, FireFriend's new album, WITCH TALES, evokes images of cosmic despondency and the desire to connect with others. Yury Hermuche (guitar, vocals) met Julia Grassetti (bass, cello, piano, vocals) in early 2006 in São Paulo, Brazil. A few months later they released the debut FireFriend album, which critics referred to as "a messy sonic trip sounding like a dirty demotape w/ guitar riffs and cello melodies. "The album attracted attention from underground musicians, particularly local music icon Pablo Oruê (drums), who instantly felt a musical kinship with FireFriend's heavy rock sound. Since meeting Pablo Oruê, FireFriend has become deeply immersed in their music, releasing new records nearly every year, and performing numerous gigs at clubs & festivals. In 2010 the band became a quartet and now includes Caca Amaral (guitar, bass, drums). All four band members are obsessed with their vinyl LP collections, guitars, stomp boxes, drums & amps. They also enjoy the qualities
of water, time'n'space trips, electricity, jazz, cursed writers and unknown bands. This summer, FireFriend is traveling over 5,000 miles to bring U.S. audiences their live, unique take on Brazilian Alternative rock.
HEAVY STARS:
The early stages of Heavy Stars began in 2010 as a fresh, creative outlet for lead guitarist and vocalist Joseph Crafton, following the dissolution of his previous band "Fueled By Oppression." Through chance, Joseph met future bassist and luthier Ashton Dayley at a local music shop while he was getting his guitar setup, and the two instantly hit it off. Over the next year and a half of jamming songs together, Joe and Ashton realized that the music translated well into a live format and thought it would be fun to play some shows together. In the Summer of 2012 they met drummer Johnny Ortega through a mutual friend during an evening of drinking beers and playing music. They quickly realized there was something special happening and the three haven't looked back.

Kings and Vagabonds are a favorite of mine. If you haven't seen them live get to Tonic for this show!