Since bursting onto the scene with their acclaimed debut album Black Holes, The Blue Stones
have delivered a crowd-thrilling live show that defies the laws of physics, generating an
impossibly massive sound from its two members alone. On their third album Pretty Monster,
the duo fully capture the controlled chaos and combustible energy of their live set for the very
first time—all while expanding on the potent songwriting and sonic ingenuity shown on Black
Holes (a 2018 release that earned them a JUNO Award nomination for ‘Breakthrough Group of
the Year’) and its 2021 follow-up Hidden Gems (a JUNO nominee for ‘Rock Album of the Year’).
Despite the colossal growth they’ve experienced since getting their start playing dive bars in
their small hometown, The Blue Stones instill every track with equal parts unchecked passion
and a joyfully adventurous spirit.

Mainly produced by multi-GRAMMY Award-winner Joe Chiccarelli (The White Stripes, The
Strokes, Spoon), Pretty Monster came to life over 35 consecutive days of recording at an
off-the-grid studio in Kingston, Ontario. During that time, lead vocalist/guitarist Tarek Jafar and
drummer/backing vocalist Justin Tessier worked tirelessly in preserving the raw vitality of the
album’s demos while embedding each song with so many unexpected details (gritty beats,
restless grooves, elegantly frenetic textures). A striking departure from the more atmospheric
sound of Hidden Gems (a widely lauded effort that spawned three Top 5 radio hits in Canada),
the result is a triumphant body of work that merges the hard-hitting dynamics of rock-and-roll
with the indelibly catchy hooks of pop.

A wildly anthemic track built on kinetic rhythms and a commanding vocal performance from
Jafar, Pretty Monster’s exhilarating lead single “Don’t Miss” reveals the unbridled creativity The
Blue Stones brought to the album-making process. To that end, Jafar sketched the song during
a session with writer/producer Kevin “Boonn” Hissink (grandson, Mike Shinoda), after
spontaneously composing an explosive riff on Hissink’s baritone guitar. “The riff was so punchy,
it inspired me to write this song about completely owning your confidence—sort of like, ‘The
hype is quite real, and here’s your soundtrack to prove that,’” says Jafar. Another heady shot of
fortitude, “Cards Are Down” unfolds in blistering guitar tones and fuzzed-out grooves as The
Blue Stones speak to the pure power in “putting everything you’ve got on the line toward
whatever you want most in life,” as Jafar puts it.

On “Good Ideas,” The Blue Stones shift into a more introspective mindset, channeling a
brooding urgency with the track’s hip-hop-leaning beats (an element crafted with the help of
WZRD BLD, who also produced “Cards Are Down” and has previously worked with artists like
Illenium and Highly Suspect). “It’s about feeling like you don’t know what to say, what to write,
what to create anymore,” says Jafar. “I wrote it during lockdown when I was feeling so stuck, but
then the song itself ended up proving me wrong by becoming something I’m really proud of.”
Meanwhile, on “What’s It Take To Be Happy?”, The Blue Stones present a soulful meditation on
the often-frustrating search for fulfillment, brilliantly twisting the mood with the song’s bright
guitar work and sing-along-ready gang vocals. “That one came from trying to write a song from
major chords instead of the bluesy minor chords we use a lot of the time,” Jafar recalls. “I
thought it would be fun if the lyrics contrasted the happy feeling of the music, so it turned into a
song about how the search for happiness can sometimes feel endless.”

The most heavy-hearted moment on Pretty Monster, “Camera Roll” reflects on a particularly
brutal form of post-breakup nostalgia. “Letting go of a relationship is always so difficult,
especially when your phone is full of hundreds of photos of the person you’re trying to move on
from,” says Jafar, who wrote the hauntingly delicate track on piano. “Getting to the point of
hitting delete and finding some closure is really tough, but hopefully this song will give people
the strength to find closure for themselves.” Elsewhere on Pretty Monster, The Blue Stones
push into such previously uncharted sonic terrain as the stoner-rock intensity of “Stay With Me.”
“There’s usually more of a swagger to the beat in our songs, but that one’s this straight-ahead,
driving, four-on-the-floor rock song,” notes Tessier.

For The Blue Stones, there’s an undeniable sense of both purpose and pleasure in boldly
following their creative impulses. “Our approach has always been to make the music we want to
hear,” says Tessier. “Every song we create is something we wanted to see in the world, and
hopefully if that goes far enough, it’ll help move things forward for the whole genre.” And by
staying true to their instincts, the duo ultimately hope to make a profoundly positive impact on
their audience as well. “We want our music to be cathartic, but we also want it to motivate and
uplift people and make them feel more confident,” says Jafar. “And when they come to our live
show, we want everyone to feel absolutely energized by the time they leave, like they’re ready
to take on the world.”

Back again at The Mount at The Forge: Lemont Quarries! The Darling Suns combine modern indie with folk and alternative roots. Taking influence from late 1990’s and early 2000's indie rock, the band forms a familiar sound but strikes a path in their own direction.

Formed in 2017 in the Chicagoland area, drawing from front man Robert Krause’s solo work, the band began writing together yielding their first full length effort "Midnight Feelings" in August 2019. After a lineup change, the band re-focused their sound and returned to the drawing table, producing the single "Afterglow", released in late 2019. A decidedly more indie rock feel, this set the pace for more new material to come. By March the next year they solidified their new sound with the release of the five track EP titled "Better Off".

Continuing to shape and build their sound with singles like “Fine” in August 2021 and "Malaise" in January 2022, The Darling Suns released their latest EP “Everyone’s Happy And Moving On” in July 2022. This release casted a voice not yet heard by the bands listeners, with a sound bigger than what they had been able to achieve before.

Recently supported acts such as The Revivalists, Bay Ledges, Lo Moon, Eric Slick, Slow Joy, The Criticals, The Collection, Young Mister, Oliver Hazard, Wishy, Brother Elsey, Stay Outside, Mike Mains & The Branches, and more.

Enjoy delicious food from some of Chicagoland's favorite food trucks while rocking out! Food truck lineup to be announced soon.

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