California-based metal dance band FIRA, fronted by SUU grad, to perform in Cedar City

CEDAR CITY — Hannah Fira of the band FIRA says she’s looking forward to bringing her band’s original blend of metal and dance music to Cedar City this weekend.

FIRA in concert, date and location not specified | Image courtesy of FIRA, St. George News / Cedar City News

FIRA, a duo consisting of vocalist Fira and guitarist Michael “Vette” Rodd, are scheduled to make their first live performance in Utah on Saturday at Mike’s Tavern. 

FIRA will be playing songs from their debut album, “From Vegas With Blood,”  which was released this past Halloween.

According to the California-based band’s website, “From Vegas With Blood” is a rock opera album that blends metal and dance music around a storyline following the characters “Fira” and “Vette” on an adventure to save their realm. 

Fira, a graduate of Southern Utah University, told Cedar City News she’s excited to return to her former college haunt.

“I’m looking forward to bringing a fun show,” said Fira, whose stage presence exudes a strong Gothic vampire vibe. FIRA’s video of the song “Endless Night” can be viewed on YouTube.

“We’ve got a whole new lighting package, and we’re putting together a lot of back-end production stuff,” she said. “It’s going to be totally awesome.”

Cover of FIRA’s debut album, “From Vegas with Blood.” | Image courtesy of FIRA, St. George News / Cedar City News

Fira said she and guitarist Rodd both come from strong rock and metal roots

“Michael, he’s very heavily Randy Rhoads inspired,” she said. “Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen are his two huge inspirations.”

As for Fira’s main vocal inspiration, she cited Queen and Freddie Mercury, along with a touch of Ozzy Osbourne, “lyrically more than vocally.”

“We wanted to find a way to bring that metal that we love into this modern age and be able to really create something that could fit just as well as a rock concert as being played in a dance club,” she said. “I feel like a few of the songs in the album definitely really hit that mark.”

FIRA, which has previously toured in Italy and found popularity among the Southern California Goth club scene, hasn’t been able to perform live in more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve been in California, where everything’s been shut down here for a year,” Fira said. “We have been doing some things online, but we really enjoy playing live.”

FIRA in concert, date and location not specified | Image courtesy of FIRA, St. George News / Cedar City News

Coming to play in Cedar City, she said, marks a “cool opportunity” for the band to ease back into live-show mode by playing smaller venues.

“This is a bit of a trial for us to sort of test the waters and see how our fans react,” Fira said. “It’s still so uncertain how people are going to react, right on the tail end of COVID and everything. But once things open a touch more, we definitely are going to be booking more shows later in the year.”

Event details

  • What: FIRA live in concert.
  • When: Saturday, May 15, 9 p.m.
  • Where: Mike’s Tavern, 90 West Hoover Ave., Cedar City.
  • Admission: $5 cover charge to enter venue. Must be at least 21 years old. 
  • Additional details: FIRA band’s website or Mike’s Tavern website.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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