Finch

by Emma

Finch – Leeds Metropolitan University – 5 July 2005

I had been waiting a long time for this and I finally got to see Finch perform before my own adoring eyes. From the first time I heard their debut album What It Is To Burn I loved Finch and knew they were something special. Their follow up album Say Hello To Sunshine released only last month surpassed all expectation and showed off a much evolved and more mature Finch with a completely different sound and darker tones.

Tonight’s support was Million Dead, who wowed an appreciative audience with a high energy, high rock and high standard set. It was clear that the crowd contained a lot of Million Dead devotees who threw themselves around excitedly and created a good pit just ahead of the stage. I was impressed with this band, who have headlined with their own tour recently.

The atmosphere built up, the anticipation for Finch hung in the air and the tension was so tick you could cut it with a knife. This soon dissolved the very second that Finch walked onto the stage and burst into a truly awesome set opening with New Beginnings to which the pit freaked out and the craziness commenced. Finch spat, roared and completely ripped their way through an array of tunes comprised of a delicious mix of new and old, Nate quite cheerily announcing that ‘we are not doing Letters To You, we’re not doing Stay With Me’. The set featured the Ink, the inspiring Insomniac Meat, Awake Without You Here, Revelation Song, Grey Matter, the superb Reduced To Teeth, Three Simple Words, Brother Bleed Brother, Hopeless Host, A Piece Of Mind, The Casket of Roderick Usher, Ravenous, and closing with the beautiful debut title track What It Is To Burn, during which the majority of the room including myself screamed the words until there was no air left in our lungs.

The sound was heavy, the pit was furious. Nate Barcalow’s vocals were flawless, pulling up some of his screams all the way from his feet and delivering them with such a force I was blown away. Randy Strohmeyer frequently interacting with the crowd and all five members putting their all into it.

I am so pleased that I was there for this tour, it was really one of the best gigs I have been to so far and is right up at the top with the likes of Alexisonfire, Funeral For A Friend and Bullet For My Valentine. I definitely give Finch an enthusiastic recommendation.

Emma