Kryptonite Metal Festival

No one can ever accuse Oski Gonzalez, the tireless booker at Tobacco Road, of favoring any particular genre in his famous multiband minifestivals. So heavier stuff gets its due this weekend at the second annual Kryptonite Metal Festival. Including some 18 bands on three stages, the lineup features much of the shorthaired, hard-rock side of things. Still, there's a wide representation of geographical origins and, rare for a show of this kind, a female! Representing for the ladies is Bitchfire, a Fort Lauderdale quartet fronted by the kick-ass Sharyn Peach and supported by some seriously smoldering Van Halen- or Lita Ford-style riffage. Think the best of cock rock without the, well, you know. Then, over in the stoner-rock corner comes Hatchet Face, a sludgy Miami-based combo that boasts a hardcore bite and lists the Melvins and Fu Manchu as influences. At the extreme edge of the spectrum are bands such as Mendacity, with its Obituary-owing death stylings. And hey, quartet Intoxicated is trying to bring back real thrash! Can't argue with that.