Review: Metric @ Electric Ballroom

By Talia Last edited 178 months ago
Review: Metric @ Electric Ballroom

Metric
Photo by Anika Mottershaw

Having played sell-out shows across the UK in the past week, Tuesday night saw Metric finishing their UK tour with a triumphant performance at Camden's Electric Ballroom. The band, on an adrenaline - and most likely exhaustion - high, jubilantly asked our permission 'to rock our faces off', and rock, they did.

For the unfamiliar, Metric are a Canadian 4-piece with 3 albums under their belt. Fronted by Emily Haines, who has all the charisma of a fully-fledged rock star on stage, Metric were touring to promote their new album, Fantasies. The album, 10 songs by a more grown up, tighter Metric is held in high regard not only by the music press, but also their fans, if Tuesday night is anything to go by.

Whether it was the ethereal synths of the opener ‘Twilight Galaxy’, the chest thumping rhythm of ‘Help I’m Alive’ or the jaunty riffs of ‘Gold Guns and Girls’, the new songs were already proving themselves to be crowd favourites. But this was no crowd new to Metric; songs from 2005’s ‘Live It Out’ had the band and crowd in tandem, beat for beat. A raw rendition of ‘Handshakes’ you couldn’t help but move to, crowd chanting ‘ba-ba-ba-ba’ to ‘Empty’ and the encore opener ‘Monster Hospital’ were each the kind of highlights that have you smiling after it’s all over.

Metric have high aspirations. Haines, half-joking, pre-emptively apologized for all the times we’d have to watch them playing in stadiums in the future. Who knows if they will get there? But one thing was loud and clear; Metric may ask ‘Who’d you rather be, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?’ but, right now, Metric wouldn’t rather be anyone, but themselves.

Utku Can

Last Updated 21 May 2009