Metric: Neither The Beatles Nor The Stones

Metric at Terminal 5
Recently, Metric wrote on their Twitter feed, ‚”Got 99 problems but… this tour ain’t one.” Presumably, the band have been enjoying themselves on their latest supporting tour, and this stop was no exception.
Metric kicked it off in Brooklyn, and as singer Emily Haines professed between songs, ‚”I love coming back to New York and playing at home … I remember when we took the train to play with the Rolling Stones. …Yeah! The fuckin’ subway.” Haines knew we could all relate, with most people having traveled from afar to get to Terminal 5′s remote (read: Midtown) location. The crowd cheered with approving applause.
These two factors may not have caused it, but the group seemed positively electrified on stage. As each member’s hair grew progressively matted from their own perspiration, their energy only increased, with their instruments seeming to grow louder with every song.
As with their newest album, Fantasies, Metric was precise in their presentation and musicianship. For the most part, they seemed closely tethered to their respective spots on stage, surrounded by their vast array of synthesizers and guitars (James Shaw, the guitarist, grabbed a different guitar for nearly every song, his stagehand frantically retuning each before use). Every measure of every song seemed to be played with the utmost importance for absolute perfection, and unlike most live acts, they pulled it off with surprising accuracy and dedication.
Haines was the only one who spoke at all to the audience, and didn’t speak much. When she did though, she expressed adoration and camaraderie for the receptive crowd, and even unleashed a little weird philosophy on everyone. It was, at times, incoherent, but her message got through: ‚”Just remember, that, you know, you gotta do what you wanna do. That’s what this next song’s about,” she said, before launching into ‚”Gimme Sympathy”.
Did I enjoy the show? Usually when my attention from a performance wavers, I start to notice what kind of equipment the artist is using– for the first time in a long time, I left the large venue without a clue about any of it.
– Erik Erikson
More photos after the jump…

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