Just a few years ago, seeing Finch in a venue of only 300 cap would be unthinkable, yet the band's first North-East show since reforming has them stuffed into the bar at the side of Newcastle Uni's basement. Lucky us then! But tonight's twice rescheduled show clashes with the reunited Far's only Northern England date in Manchester, leaving the venue stuffed with a younger and obviously more awkward crowd.

Reading's Dissolved In misjudge their audience early on, with an attempt to get the crowd to join in on a song they don't even know going so cringeworthily wrong, even tumbleweeds would . But my, don't they play better when they're angry! By the time 'Egocentric''s warped keyboard melodies and pop punk bluster hits the crowd, they win some of the meagre audience back through sheer brute force. Perhaps telling us to "suck my dick" was a little premature, then? No such passionate reaction for Shadows Chasing Ghosts though. Faced with the vicious melodic riffs of proper hardcore like 'Seize The Moment', the kids seem a little stunned. Looks like we were wrong - sadly the crowd still haven't properly woken up.

If only Finch knew how fitting that weird intro loop of guitar noise and electronics would be for tonight's show. As if playing at the side of the venue wasn't odd enough, the kids who are here to see a band who haven't played the North-East for four years seem strangely unbothered at first. The likes of first album hit 'Perfection through Silence' and proto-screamo Underworld theme song 'Worms Of The Earth' get virtually no reaction; indeed, the crowd seem apathetic almost to the point of rudeness, spurring Randy's blunt intro "I am playing a song and you are listening to me" to 'Untitled'. Not that this stops the band from giving it their all. Three years away have done bugger all to dampen their live sharpness. Nate Barcalow tears across the tiny stage, sweat plastering his hair to his face as he reaches his arm out to 'Bitemarks and Bloodstains'; not a hint that he'd spent ten days earlier this month sick as a dog with tonsillitis.

However, as the set goes on, the crowd slowly start warming up. The moshpit doesn't open up for the first time until the more experimental leanings of 'Insomniac Meat', while a vote sees the crowd choosing the more contemplative 'Piece Of Mind' over anything from the first album. Indeed, it's the band's notoriously unpopular second album Say Hello To Sunshine, the one that saw them abandon the shinier template that made them famous, and the new EP that seems to get the crowd going more than anything else. It's almost like Finch are starting again. And they seem so much freer for it. Once the band realise the setlist needs changing halfway through, things start picking up. While the band refuse to play 'Project Mayhem', the skittish 'Revelation Song' gets an unexpected frantic outing tonight, and the band visibly relax into the night, Randy cracking jokes about sales figures. "You guys are the best damn crew we've ever been with," says Randy, a little honesty maybe slipping through in his usual half-serious stage bluster. "You're true blue, Ethel." Today's Finch fans seem to be the ones who like it for the stuff the band themselves love, and isn't that what any band wants?

Our interview with Finch will be online in the new year...

Rating: 4/5 by Ruth Midget

Further links

Finch music.com

Official site. Contains music, merch, tickets and much more

Dissolved In on MySpace

Myspace page of the ‘Proudly Dressed' emo types, Dissolved In

Shadows Chasing Ghosts on MySpace

MySpace page for Shadows Chasing Ghosts