Firefriend

The Moon, Cardiff - 15th June 2023

Having been thwarted in our attempt to see Firefriend in Manchester, and desperate to catch them on this rare foray to the UK, the only option remaining for us was to nip down to Cardiff the following day for the band's very first Welsh gig. Of course nipping down to Cardiff from our abode in north-west Wales is easier said than done. Travelling through Wales can be a nightmare and the interminable roadworks saw the journey take us well over five hours with traffic near Cardiff resembling tortoise racing on a grand scale.

Having not eaten since breakfast we dashed straight to the nearest Mexican restaurant; this wasn't to celebrate Firefriend's South American roots but a necessity for people who live in the middle of nowhere and generally have no chance to indulge in such wonders. A few margaritas hit the spot before we walked down to The Moon, a venue we had never seen before, but pleasingly one that resembled most of those we had been to throughout our lives, being small, curiously shaped, and with bloody great pillars right by the stage. It felt like home. The tequila turned to bourbon and we were nicely in the zone as Firefriend took to the stage after two of the intended three support acts had done their bit.

Ostensibly here to promote their fantastic new album, Decreation Facts, Firefriend opted to play only two songs from that collection, the title track and the utterly wonderful 'We're Going In The Wrong Direction'. This is such a powerful, emotive song, the closing track on the album, where bassist Julia Grassetti sings mournfully to a stark piano movement. It proved equally thrilling in the live arena where its humanity made every word more telling. Apart from these two tracks, Firefriend dipped into their considerable back catalogue to fill the set with choice cuts. There were two tracks from 2017's The Black Hole EP, one each from 2018's Sulfur and Yellow Spider, one from 2019's Avalanche, and one from 2021's Dead Icons. There were two more we didn't recognise.

Most of the vocals were left to Julia as the band's guitarist and other vocalist Yury Hermuche was very much tied up in cradling his nine effects pedals and ensuring the right waves were sent washing over the audience. Watching Firefriend was never going to be about leaping around stage and shouting in your face; their process is to build layer upon layer of sound that will flow though the audience, both charming them and convincing them. The patterns they wove were exquisite and deliberate and it was a joy to see that in their live show they lost none of the power they have captured on record. Their spell over the audience was reinforced by the drumming of Carlos Amaral who is absolutely metronomic yet so stylish it is difficult to take your eyes off him. He played his drums with a tambourine and other percussion instruments and yet was always immersed in the music, never dominating or breaking away.

"We have travelled 6,000 miles to be here," Yury exclaimed, "Thanks for coming to see us tonight." The thanks should have come from the audience that this remarkable band were prepared to travel so far to spread their message. And there is a message in the music. When we chatted, Yury explained that the band talk about what is happening in the world with one eye very much on future generations. They want them to hear what has happened in the world so they have the power to right the wrongs of the current generation. This century has presented the world with a stark choice of using the vast increase in knowledge to build a better society, or to see everything end in flames. Firefriend are pushing a message of hope that mankind can do the right thing. We ignore them at our peril. Let's hope they find their way back to the UK soon, bringing more light.

Cardinal Fuzz issued a limited edition tour CD for this brief UK visit and copies may soon be available on the CF webpage.

Set List: The Black Hole, Avalanche, Three Dimensional Sound Glitch, Dreamscapes, After Hours, Spearhead, Decreation Facts, Blue Radiation, We're Going In The Wrong Direction, Surface To Air.

Thanks to Tony Hiscox for three photos.