To stir people’s anticipation for Bazooka Rocks Festival 3, Pulp Live World prepared a special pre-show featuring Finch, a post-hardcore/screamo band which gained recognition in 2002 with the release of their debut album titled “What It Is to Burn”.

Finch is currently composed of Nate Barcalow on vocals, Randy Strohmeyer on lead guitar, Alex Linares on rhythm guitar, Daniel Wonacott on bass guitar and Alex Pappas on drums. Up to now, their first album remains to be their most successful release yet. Their sophomore effort titled “Say Hello to Sunshine”, released in 2005, provided a less raucous sound and stuck more to post-hardcore instead of screamo.

As a band, their course had been slightly turbulent. They went through a series of indefinite hiatuses in 2006 and late 2010. With each member pursuing a different project during their breaks, the band’s future was left hanging. They started touring again in 2013 and started creating new material. Late this year, they are set to release “Back to Oblivion”, their long-overdue third album.

Marking their first gig in Manila, Finch played in front of an audience of hundreds at the Skydome on August 7. The show started at 8:30pm, their set lasting for about 1 hour and a half. The crowd was mostly made up of people in their early to late 20s.

Starting things off, the band played “New Beginnings”, “Letters to You” and “Post Script” which immediately stirred up the crowd. Their setlist was dominated by songs off their first album which undeniably had a significant following in the audience. Songs such as “Perfection through Silence”, “Stay with Me” and “Ender” were easily recognized by majority of the attendees. From “Say Hello to Sunshine”, they played “Ink”, “A Piece of Mind”, “Insomniatic Meat” and “Bitemarks and Bloodstains”.

The highlight of the show was seen toward the end when they played “Worms of the Earth” (which was known to be part of Underworld’s soundtrack), “Three Simple Words” and lastly, “What It Is to Burn” which ultimately induced a united sing/scream-along in the audience.

Finch put on a good show. Special thanks to Pulp Live World!

Written by Sandra Mae Laureano
Photos by Glenn Michael Tan