I’ll admit that I wasn't the biggest Metric fan before seeing the Canadian band live. Don't get me wrong, I had their albums and knew the hits, but it was my friend Kelli’s massive crush on lead singer Emily Haines (also of Broken Social Scene) that had me too intrigued to miss seeing their performance at The Ritz Ybor on Saturday night. [Text by Marci Ricter, photos by Chris Spires.]
Initially I was bummed that Stars wasn't co-headlining with Metric for their U.S. run, until pretty much the instant that fellow Canadians and supporting act Half Moon Run started playing. I fell fast and hard for their subtle twanginess, the lovely harmonies, and the tranquil vibe that runs through it all. By the time they got to "Fire Escape," they'd enraptured the audience to such a degree that the harmonica solo drew screams from the crowd, and you could almost feel the place swoon at the Buckley-esqe vocals at the song's conclusion. When I went to the merch booth after their set, there was already a small line of people waiting to pick up their CD.
Finally, it was time to see what all Kelli’s fuss was about, as Metric hit the stage and Emily Haines bounced out and took her place behind the keys. Not only was she most definitely as adorable as described, she brought vibrant energy to every move she made and the fan placed precisely below her keyboard blew her hair up and around her face, making it appear as if she were taking part in some sort of dreamy photo shoot during her performance. The show opened with "Artificial Nocturne," the first track from their latest effort, Synthetica. Full of stretched tension and echoes, it wound everyone up to explode when the drums kicked in. Now, allow me to clarify — with everyone packed together and still pushing to get closer to the stage, 'exploding' was more like an increase of speed from the foot-to-foot sway that was just about all that was possible amid the mass of bodies. Metric played the next two songs off Synthetica in a row, making me wonder if they were going to play the whole album, but after "Speed the Collapse" confirmed that the show was up and running, the foursome cycled efficiently through material spanning their five-album catalog.
One of my favorites moments of the show was came during "Sick Muse" (off 2009's Fantasies). Emily jogged throughout basically the entire song - actually, the whole concert pretty much. They slowed down the ending of "Dead Disco" and had us all clapping along, then they dove into the final chorus and stretched it all out with plenty of lights and reverb. They continued the high energy instrumentals as they segued into the next song, "Stadium Love," which brought the set to its conclusion.
They opened the encore with their track off the Scott Pilgrim vs the World soundtrack, "Black Sheep," which was a cool surprise, and then Emily strapped on a guitar for "Gold Guns Girls." Afterwards, she offered the crowd her sincere and reflected on how crazy it was to be in Florida with a band made up of old friends. The final song, "Gimme Sympathy," was performed by Emily and fellow BSS bandmate Joshua Winstead, each of them standing under their own spotlight, and at the song's close, they encouraged the crowd to take the reins and sing the song, at which point the rest of the band returned to join them, clap and sway along.
As my boyfriend and I discussed the show on the walk out, he commented that Haines performs like a teenager just dancing alone in her bedroom, and I had to agree. And the musicians of Metric clearly had the time of their lives playing together, delivering a set full of joyful energy that felt genuine and personal, and made all of us who were there feel lucky to experience it with them.
