Metric Reclaim History at Bowery Ballroom

Having rocked Madison Square Garden less than a week prior, Metric pleasantly surprised fans by announcing an intimate gig at the Bowery Ballroom, their first show at the venue since 2005.  Unfettered by both time and the pressure to gain Paramore fans, the band opened up the setlist, reaching back to revive seven Live It Out tracks.

With no support act, the band took the stage a little after 9pm to cheers from the crowd.  Emily Haines rubbed her hands together and placed them on her keyboard.  She began playing the first notes of "Nothing But Time," the slow-burner a far cry from the torrent of MSG's "Black Sheep."  It was obvious Haines was more relaxed, all the way down to her outfit.  Donning a thin black blouse under an unbuttoned tan military shirt, she wasn't relying on sparkles to catch your eyes, though she did sport some pot leaf bling on the sleeve.  After two more Synthetica tunes, Metric began their plunge into the past with the gentle "Ending Start."  "Why is the Bowery Ballroom still my favorite place to play?" Haines questioned.  "Empty" was a standout, Emily oscillating her head vigorously as the audience sang along.  Haines took some time to express her feelings on how the band was somehow left out of the indie music history book despite being in its Williamsburg epicenter in 2001.  It seemed like she was lamenting their exclusion, but clarified when asked what they would've done differently: "You know, fuckin' nothing, man."  More set highlights included a "Patriarch on a Vespa/Handshakes" mash-up, a Jimmy and Emily "Love is a Place", and a stellar performance of "Clone."

Jimmy and Emily returned to the stage for an encore, and Emily shared her optimism for the new mayor.  "This song is dedicated to the end of stop and frisk," she said, ready to begin "The Police & the Private."  As it turns out, fans aren't the only ones who get annoyed by iPads at concerts.  Catching sight of a tablet in the front row, Emily abruptly halted.  "Yo, yo, yo, I can't sing with that thing recording me.  It's gonna shirk me out.  I hate this shit, man," she said.  The iPad was confiscated with approval from the audience, and the duo proceeded.  Josh Winstead and Joules Scott-Key rejoined them for "Too Little Too Late," "Glass Ceiling," and an impressive "Gold Guns Girls" that saw Shaw, looking the part of Indiana Jones in his hat and vest, ripping into his solo to melt faces like he'd just lifted the lid off the Ark of the Covenant.  The rhythm section departed once more, and Haines announced, "We'll leave you with a lullaby.  Did you get everything you wanted from your Metric show?"  More cheers (aside from my roommate, who really wanted to hear "Black Sheep" again).  Shaw and Haines finished things with an acoustic "Gimme Sympathy," encouraging the crowd to accompany them.  Smiling, Emily looked around the room and remarked, "Well, I don't know what it is, but it's ours."  To which I would pose the question: How many of their turn-of-the-millennium Williamsburg compatriots are even together, let alone still making compelling music?

METRIC - 11.19.13 - BOWERY BALLROOM (1 hour, 27 minutes)

SET -

Nothing But Time / Youth Without Youth > Speed the Collapse / Ending Start / Empty / Patriarch on a Vespa > Handshakes / Help I'm Alive / Love is a Place / Synthetica / Clone / Breathing Underwater / Sick Muse

ENCORE -

The Police & the Private / Too Little Too Late / Glass Ceiling / Gold Guns Girls / Gimme Sympathy

Metric & Hellogoodbye Make a Great Case for Openers

I hope you got to Madison Square Garden for the Paramore show early enough to see the opening acts.  It's hard to believe that just three months ago, I was within a few yards of Hellogoodbye in the backyard of an eyeglasses store, and last night I was hundreds of feet away in the nosebleeds of MSG.  (Tangent: The venue's new flying bridges are terrible.  The beachball-esque ceiling, which droops to the scoreboard in the center, is without a doubt, the Garden's most iconic feature, and now it's obscured by two monstrosities.  It's absolutely shocking to me that the architects would sacrifice that view to the tune of 430 more seats.)  While I'm sure the bridges also disrupt the room's acoustics, the sound mix for "...And Everything Becomes a Blur" was the muddiest I've heard in the building.  But perhaps there wasn't enough time to soundcheck properly, as it seemed every member in the band also had a keyboard in front of them.  "This is a kind-of old song," said Forrest Kline, gearing up "When We First Met" and the directing the audience to clap along for the pre-chorus.  They followed with "Swear You're in Love," which set up a pattern of injecting more sounds into the second verses of the tunes.  "This is an old song," explained Kline before "Here (in Your Arms)."  After so much avoidance, it was nice to see Forrest embracing his electro-pop past, employing a vocoder and deviating little from its recorded version, save for some sweet guitar licks in the second verse.  He shared vocal duties with the arena on the final chorus, the line "whispers, 'Hello, I've missed you quite terribly'" anything but a whisper.  For "Just Don't Let Go Just Don't," he grabbed his microphone, which was attached to a cable of blinking lights, and showed off some nerdy dance moves at the edge of the stage.  They finished the short set with their most recent album's title cut, "(Everything is) Debatable."  "I wish we could sit and chat all night," Kline remarked sincerely, and retreated backstage.

With an ebullient tide of distortion, Metric powered into "Black Sheep."  They may have been the middle act, but the band obviously set out to prove (and did) that they were capable of headlining the historic venue.  Emily Haines was an effervescent vision in her sparkly outfit, which gave way to a pair of shapely legs.  It's no secret how she stays in such fantastic shape.  The stage is her gym.  Never content just to stand still, she spent the entire concert hopping from foot to foot in an aerobic dance.  She was an absolute delight to watch, especially little things like pulling her microphone away to extend each "miiiiind" in "Youth Without Youth," or the tambourine theatrics to emphasize the crescendoes in "Help I'm Alive."  "Synthetica" was probably my favorite performance of the night, with Jimmy Shaw's clean guitar lines shining brightly until the dense layers all forged into a dizzying climax under the strobe lights.  I didn't want it to stop, but as it does on the album, the tune ended abruptly.  "Breathing Underwater" saw Emily jabbing her tambourine triumphantly into the sky to punctuate each "Is this my life?"  Haines strapped on a six-string to play rhythm on "Gold Guns Girls," and Shaw came center stage to rip into a soaring solo.  Metric finished their set by giving the hallowed arena some "Stadium Love."  "Thank you, Hayley!  Thank you, New York City!" shouted Emily as she left the stage, Jimmy's guitar still feeding back to mix with the cheers.  Yes, thank you, Hayley Williams, for picking such talented bands to open for you.

HELLOGOODBYE - 11.13.13 - MADISON SQUARE GARDEN (26 minutes, 11 seconds)

SET - 

...And Everything Becomes a Blur / When We First Met / Swear You're in Love / Here (in Your Arms) / Just Don't Let Go Just Don't / (Everything is) Debatable

METRIC - 11.13.13 - MADISON SQUARE GARDEN (38 minutes, 23 seconds)

SET -

Black Sheep / Youth Without Youth / Help I'm Alive / Synthetica / Breathing Underwater / Sick Muse / Gold Guns Girls / Stadium Love

Emily Haines is Sexy. (Part 2)

I saw Metric last night at Terminal 5.  I have a new favorite frontperson and her name is Emily Haines.  Back in January, I downloaded the audio of Metric's Live at Metropolis DVD without having seen the video.  Just listening to it, I could hear in Emily's voice how much fun she was having.  I decided I had to see them, and last night, the time finally came.  The sub-par sound of the venue couldn't stop Haines from ripping it up.  She bounced around the stage like a caffeinated kangaroo, headbanged as she rocked out the keyboard, did some semi-choreographed moves with a tambourine, and sang her fucking heart out.  The show was a brief 1 hour and 23 minutes, but if it went any longer, Emily probably wouldn't have survived.  That's how much she puts into her performance.  And did I mention she's hot too?

The set was heavy on tracks from their latest album, Fantasies.  While every song was great, the highlight for me was probably "Stadium Love."  The song closes Fantasies, and its lyrics have always puzzled me.  Emily prefaced the song with an explanation of a post-apocalyptic dream she had in which the earth's animals were forced to do battle with each other, while the humans watched and feasted on giant cheeseburgers.  The only way to make everything better was with massive amounts of love, enough to fill a stadium.  Puzzle solved.

The encore ended with a slowed-down, stripped-down version of "Live It Out," which you can watch here.

METRIC – 06.17.09 – TERMINAL 5

SET –

Twilight Galaxy / Help I’m Alive / Satellite Mind / Handshakes / Gold Guns Girls / Gimme Sympathy / Sick Muse / Empty / Front Row / Dead Disco / Stadium Love

ENCORE –

Monster Hospital / Live It Out

Emily Haines is Sexy.

Metric have a new album out called Fantasies.  While it's still growing on me (The production's sheen seems unnecessary.), it is still quite good.  Check out this cool video for "Gimme Sympathy."

Pretty neat, right?  Now see how it was made.

I'm seeing them on the 17th.  Hooray!