Metric at the State Theatre, 9/11/12
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| Photo by Stacy Schwartz |
Metric
with Half Moon Run
State Theatre,
Minneapolis
September 11, 2012
It wasn't a courtesy rise; audience members did not sit back down once in the entirety of the 90-minute set. Metric isn't really the sort of band you sit down for, anyway.
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"I'm just as fucked up as they say," sang Emily Haines, opening the night with "Artificial Nocturne." As Haines bounced lightly around the stage, her glistening pale legs extending from some strategically short shorts, her pop-fairy voice masked the mournful nature of the song. Metric's lyrics--especially to the songs off the band's recent fifth album Synthetica -- are like that: modern, eerily self-aware, and inescapably catchy. Pop with a soul, if you will -- though last night, Metric sounded like the farthest thing from bubblegum joy.
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| Photo by Stacy Schwartz |
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| Photo by Stacy Schwartz |
Haines led the show in a tight progression, in control of the entire evening. Of the 13 songs Metric played before their encore, they sprung for a lot of new material -- which fit perfectly and tightly. "Lost Kitten" punched powerfully through its own melody, and Haines stalked the stage more like a predator than a victim, as the song would lead a listener to believe. As she introduced "Help, I'm Alive" to the eager audience, each line of "beating like a hammer" punctuated by synthed-up suspense, it was very hard to imagine Emily Haines being vulnerable enough for anyone to eat her alive.
Metric progressed quickly into blistering, frenzied rock. Guitarist James Shaw was a positive force of nature; "Sick Muse" was easy and tempo-driven until it erupted into "Dead Disco" and the furious, house-shaking "Stadium Love."
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| Photo by Stacy Schwartz |
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| Photo by Stacy Schwartz |
It's the mark of a great show that can get a stereotypically tame Midwestern audience moving, and Metric certainly needed no help in winning the love of their audience. It was clear that the band felt very at home at the State, and in Minneapolis in general.
"You end up having family, kind of, in every town," said Haines of touring repeatedly, and she shared some fond memories of Minneapolis. "We were here for Thanksgiving one year, and the folks at First Ave kind of just invited us in, like a bunch of homeless people... It's a great vibe, and we're just really happy to be here."
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