Finch rocks Portland crowd
Emotive rockers headline State Theater show
Nathan Webster
Issue date: 5/1/03 Section: Style
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Emo-rockers Finch treated audience members at Portland's State Theater to a loud dose of mayhem last Thursday night.
The night opened with a stellar set from the little-known emo band Days Away. While the band, which is currently not signed to a label, has only released a 5-song EP, "The Feel of It," it rocked like old pros.
The band's songs ran the gamut from hard rock to emo to punk, and all of them were performed with conviction and energy.
The talented singer switched from soulful crooning to gutsy screaming in a heartbeat, leading the band through a short, sweet set.
The only bad aspect of the Days Away set was the band's lanky keyboardist. He danced in place like a buffoon, his shaggy mop of hair hanging over his eyes. He almost never actually played his keyboard and when he did, it couldn't be heard over the guitars and drums. It appeared as though he did not know how to play the keyboard. His very presence hurt the band's performance, but the other members compensated with their own talents.
Snapcase, a popular (as popular as hardcore can be), Buffalo-based hardcore band, then hit the stage. While the band members lacked any kind of musical talent, they tried to make up for their sonic shortcomings by exuding nonstop energy throughout their loud and obnoxious set.
Vocalist Daryl Taberski painfully screeched his way through all of the band's songs, never changing his pitch or volume. Even on the songs where guitarists John Salemi and Frank Vicario picked backdrops of soft notes, Taberski still managed to butcher any kind of melody, as he just kept screaming.
As Taberski was introducing a song he wrote about hating one of his previous jobs, he asked the crowd, "How many of you have had crappy jobs?"
When he received only murmurs in response, he realized that most audience members weren't old enough to legally be employed. He quickly asked, "How many of you hate school?" The question got a hearty response of screams and fists raised in the air.
The night opened with a stellar set from the little-known emo band Days Away. While the band, which is currently not signed to a label, has only released a 5-song EP, "The Feel of It," it rocked like old pros.
The band's songs ran the gamut from hard rock to emo to punk, and all of them were performed with conviction and energy.
The talented singer switched from soulful crooning to gutsy screaming in a heartbeat, leading the band through a short, sweet set.
The only bad aspect of the Days Away set was the band's lanky keyboardist. He danced in place like a buffoon, his shaggy mop of hair hanging over his eyes. He almost never actually played his keyboard and when he did, it couldn't be heard over the guitars and drums. It appeared as though he did not know how to play the keyboard. His very presence hurt the band's performance, but the other members compensated with their own talents.
Snapcase, a popular (as popular as hardcore can be), Buffalo-based hardcore band, then hit the stage. While the band members lacked any kind of musical talent, they tried to make up for their sonic shortcomings by exuding nonstop energy throughout their loud and obnoxious set.
Vocalist Daryl Taberski painfully screeched his way through all of the band's songs, never changing his pitch or volume. Even on the songs where guitarists John Salemi and Frank Vicario picked backdrops of soft notes, Taberski still managed to butcher any kind of melody, as he just kept screaming.
As Taberski was introducing a song he wrote about hating one of his previous jobs, he asked the crowd, "How many of you have had crappy jobs?"
When he received only murmurs in response, he realized that most audience members weren't old enough to legally be employed. He quickly asked, "How many of you hate school?" The question got a hearty response of screams and fists raised in the air.