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The last two days were ripe with firsts: I enjoyed my first pumpkin beverage of the season, Kanye suffered his first death hoax, Metric played two sold-out shows at Massey Hall in Toronto for the first time, and I went to both of ‘em - marking the first time I’ve seen back-to-back concerts. Hooray!

The significance of Massey Hall lies in its storied history - as one of Toronto’s oldest venues, its stage has seen the likes of Neil Young, Bob Dylan, the Dalai Lama and Winston Churchill. Metric wasn’t shy in expressing their excitement about playing on that historic stage, gushing that it had long been a dream. However, the problem with Massey Hall - a seated venue - is that you can’t really DANCE. And isn’t that the point of a Metric show, to have a sweaty dance party? (Yes.)

But kudos to them for selling out their dream venue twice over. With their latest album, the band has seen a rise in popularity as well as growing mainstream appeal (as evidenced by the varied crowd: kids, soccer moms, plump-lipped cougars and old men peppered throughout the Urban Outfitters masses). Most indie kids may have moved on to the latest Manchester Orchestra vinyl, but I remain loyal to Metric’s pop heaven.

Cripes, I’m starting to sound douchey. So like, the Metric show was 3/4 stellar (on both nights). I’m not gonna bother rhyming off differences between the two shows cause for the most part they’re minimal - the set list was the same, Emily wore sequins (silver on Tuesday, gold on Wednesday), and even some stage banter was rehashed. I think there was something a bit more magical (ugh) about Night 1 - maybe it was the slow rise of the audience’s excitement, which began as a low din and culminated with a 2 minute ovation after the encore’s “Monster Hospital” (the audience on Night 2 pretty much remained a solid 8 the whole time), or maybe cause I was seeing the show for the first time. Whatever. Both nights were great.

The 90 minute set relied largely on their 2009 Polaris-nominated album Fantasies (only one song not performed), punched up with some earlier faves like “Poster of a Girl”, “Handshakes” and “Dead Disco” (which has been slightly modified and perfected through years of practice, and lucky for us they still seem to relish in playing it). I want to be all, “MORE OLDIES!!” but the fact remains that Fantasies is *~GOOD~* and deserves some attention. Plus, it sounds great live. So I can understand they they wanna favour it - but one day I still want to see a setlist that gives equal weight to their 4 albums (they didn’t even touch Grow Up And Blow Away). And one day I’ll hear “Hustle Rose” live again.

As per us’, Emily was her strutting, headbanging, sexy self but the strength of Metric lies in all four members’ magnetic energy and talent. Take your eyes off the lead for a minute and check out Josh’s cool, confident stage presence; revel in Jimmy’s electrifying musicianship and feel the weight of Joules’ tight percussion. This is a four-person show, not a one-woman ship.

Enough to, uh, make me shed a tear (shuddup!!), the show ended with an acoustic sing-a-long of “Combat Baby”, which on both nights filled Massey Hall with almost 3,000 voices pleading Metric to “cooommmme baaaack baby!” An amazing finish for two brilliant nights.

Setlist:
Twilight Galaxy
Help I’m Alive
Satellite Mind
Handshakes
Poster of a Girl
Gold Guns Girls
Collect Call
Empty
Gimme Sympathy
Sick Muse
Dead Disco
Blindness
Stadium love

Encore:
Monster Hospital
Combat Baby (acoustic)

Tags: concert reviews, concerts, metric, reviews

Posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 2:47 pm by Wendy and is filed under Concert Reviews.

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