Rewind to March last year and Finch played the legendary Brixton Academy just after they called their hiatus off touring in celebration of the anniversary of ‘What It Is To Burn’. The show was obviously magically but the band fell down musically where Nate’s vocals just weren’t strong and overall it was just another show: fast forward to August 2014 where the band have dropped down to the intimate Camden Underworld venue and my god the transformation. The band are again the tight well oiled machine that their recorded material shows, fortunate due to a new album coming out next month. Tonight was every inch the perfect set and blew every single doubt anyone has had about Finch out of the water.
Thankfully the majority of tonight’s set was made up of tracks from ‘What It Is To Burn’ clearly the crowds favourite of the bands two albums. The opening three or four songs were a carnage mess of sweat, beer and screaming so we were happy to have a few tracks thrown between to give us time to breathe (literally! The Underworld is like a sweat box!) In a venue like this the crowd are part of the band; singing their hearts out every second. Sometimes it’s easy to forget how many amazing tracks WIITB produced ‘Letters To You’, ‘New Beginnings’, ‘Postscript’, ‘Grey Matter’.…. we could go on but you get the picture.
Finch whack in two new tracks for good measure, recently released ‘Two Guns To The Temple’ which FYI sounds a million times better live than the recorded version. Every inch the Finch we know and love. Everything tonight seems tight, well-practiced and everything you’d want from a band whose music you listened to incessantly as a teenage.
A band like Finch are always going to have the fans and the people to come to their shows but to play a show like tonight cements them in the centre of our musical hearts as an incredible band. If sweat dripping from the ceiling and not being able to see due to our fringe being stuck over our eyes is a sign of a good show then tonight was the best! Finch we love you.
