Metric begins their show in blackness, while a soothing American male voice-over pontificates humanity, global destruction, and the space-time-continuum. As he finishes with an optimistic nod to those who remember what “the world once was and what it could be”, Emily Haines arrives on stage in a black and flashing-lights peacock costume, singing “Lie, Lie, Lie”, the first track off their new album, “Pagans in Vegas”. Whether she is calling the man in the voiceover a liar, or going into further detail about the falsehoods of modern media, is a bit unclear. What is certain is that Ms Haines and company have fully embraced their 80s techno-goth influences and are using that music to elaborate on what is happening right now. It’s a tough sell to the recording industry, I’m sure, but this talented group of musicians and songwriters are able to pull it off.
The band intersperses “Pagans in Vegas” tracks with a handful of their older hits. Though the new record is a dark, digitized departure from their guitar-heavy past, it blends together beautifully. The fist-pumping “Help I’m Alive” leads so masterfully into the head-banging “Too Bad, So Sad” you don’t even realise you haven’t heard the 2nd song before.
Haines’ bright soprano and sultry dance moves twisted the audience into a blissful indie-rock dance party. The only track I wasn’t quite sold on was “Fortunes”, as Haines isn’t as strong in her lower register, making the moody track feel a bit thin. Otherwise, the entire show put their songwriting skills on solid display. In the encore, as everyone sang in unison “Who would you rather be, the Beatles or the Rollin Stones?” it’s clear the audience doesn’t want Metric to be anyone other than exactly who they are.
Setlist
1. Lie Lie Lie
2. Fortunes
3. Youth Without Youth
4. Help I’m Alive
5. Too Bad, So Sad
6. Cascades
7. Black Sheep
8. Satellite Mind
9. Collect Call
10. Other Side
11. Monster Hospital
12. Synthetica
13. Combat Baby (Vocal interlude)
14. Gold Guns Girls
15. The Shade
Encore:
16. Empty
17. Celebrate
18. Gimme Sympathy
19. Breathing Underwater
London, England