Wednesday the 25th at the Bug Jar in Rochester was a night filled with post-rock nostalgia and friends gathering to hear local bands, Please Choose Number 3, My Lord and MakeItStop to help ZETA celebrate the past 10 years touring the United States.
Soundcheck was complete, merch tables set, and as the crowd came in you could tell it was a night of celebration by the amount of people entering that would congratulate band members, make new introductions and even, in some cases, run up and hug the members of the bands. ZETA even had cake as seen on the band’s Instagram.
Warming up the stage was Please Pick Number Three, My Lord, a reference to the scene in the movie Shrek where Lord Farquaad is choosing his bachelorette. When a conversation came up about their setlist, it was said, “All of our songs are titles after Shrek quotes,” and, “If I had a setlist, it would just be random numbers.” One thing is for sure, if the off-stage presence was the kind and friendly Shrek, as soon as they took the stage, the ogre came out with hard hitting bass lines and a hardcore lyric range that was extremely impressive. Please Pick Number 3, My Lord is a Rochester band on the rise for sure, keep an eye on these musicians for the summer.
With a quick transition MakeItStop, another local Rochester band, was already taking the stage to keep the energy going and to ride off the crowd reaction to Number 3. Coming off the release of their album “Pale Runs The Ghost” in November of 2025 MakeItStop was rocked, locked and loaded with heavy tracks with deep roots. Immediately the early 2000’s nostalgia kicked in, sounding like a hardcore band you would have heard back in the day, and to hit this home, MakeItStop even threw in a cover of “Eriakarka,” originally by The Mars Volta. They made it their own while holding true to the original, an excellent addition to their set of entrancing melodies and blasting vocals that are sure to get your adrenaline going.
With another quick transition, the drum set took front and center on the small Bug Jar stage for ZETA, the Venezuelan post-rock/post-hardcore band with Caribbean based roots, originally formed in 2003 in Lecheria, Venezuela before relocating and basing themselves out of South Florida, and 10 years of touring the United States began to shake the foundation of the building and the lines between music genres, often time mixing in English and Spanish lyrics. Drummer Chino Sandoval sat center stage where his powerful and stylistic beat-keeping became the rhythm for the crowd as well, providing an immersive experience rather than just onlooking, everyone was a part of this celebration.
In ZETA’s 20+ year career they have played more than 1500 shows and counting and are set to continue playing well into the future, with a nomadic attitude and a pure love for their music, ZETA emanates their music with a political undertone and a passion for the culture of music they fit so seamlessly in. Well this night seemed to be a “no setlist night,” songs from their 2025 EP Was It Medicine To You? could be picked out from the seamless segues filled with their own hardcore sound with breaks of lyrical harmonies.
Between the vibe, the pure talent and the pace of the audience, this was a top notch performance that was not to be missed, if you knew and were able to attend you witnessed greatness on a level not seen on small stages, as bassist Antonio Pereira often switched from bass to tambourines’ as well as guitarist Dani Debuto would switch from his intense guitar riffs to any number of percussion instruments including a set of bongo-like drums.
As the show came to a close another mark on ZETA’s 1500 shows was scratched into their legacy and a promise was left, that ZETA would always return to the Bug Jar as long as they were touring, and if their website joinzeta.com is any sign of their continued touring, Rochester has many ZETA shows to look forward to.
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