Weakened Friends

Welcome home, Weakened Friends! 

Words: Bridey Boyle / Photos: Kenneth Coles

Weakened Friends blew Portland through the roof in Port City Music Hall when they made their stop back home, none other than Portland, Maine itself. The fans making sure their welcome is beyond warm. The band expressed their gratitude toward the Port City. 

Just from the enthusiasm of the audience alone, it’s clear as day that Weakened Friends is loved by their native city, as there was no second of silence filling the venue that night. From the booming music that was impossible not to move to, to the heavy cheers and yells of the excited, enthusiastic audience that kept grins on their faces from ear to ear throughout the night. The band is a local favorite for sure. You feel proud to call yourself a Portland native from listening to this talent so effortlessly make the stage their own, leaving you wishing to see more!

With Sonia Sturino’s powerful, post punk vocals and excellent guitar solos paired with Annie Hoffman’s boisterous and upbeat bass rhythms the music is as easy to move. New drummer Adam Hand not only kept up but added his own flare to the beloved songs. The audience found themselves mimicking the bands post punk energy the entire night. 

But if you aren’t exactly a Portland native, or even a Maine one at that, they’re a band that hit you heavy. Their messages through each song connect with an audience young and old, and reveal parts of one’s self that some are not so secure in revealing. Weakened Friends empowers all to embrace their individuality and self-importance, and they constantly reassure you that you’re not alone in your struggles. There is a sense of warm comfort in their loud, thrashing music, a sense of welcoming and enjoyment. Even if you aren’t into their harder sound, it’s hard to admit that you could sit through one of their shows and not feel a sense of empowerment.