It is not very often that you go to a show and leave not really knowing what you thought of it. Last Thursday, Metric played a concert like that at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC, mainly covering tracks from their latest album, “Fantasies”.
On the one hand, Metric has clearly grown as a band since the last time I saw them play at the 9:30 Club about 3 years ago. Metric’s popularity in the US has undoubtedly expanded and they played to a packed house, a stark contrast to the last time I saw them. On the other hand, the sound was off throughout the set and the band didn’t sound crisp. The vocal levels were the main offender, being both fuzzy and anomalously loud.
Although the band has audibly matured, Metric’s live shows remain dominated by front-woman Emily Haines. Her energy-infused performance was impressive, and was clearly the highlight of the show. At times she was mesmerizing on stage, as she switched from tambourine to synthesizer to crazy dances. Unfortunately, the rest of the band was infinitely forgettable. They were merely passengers for the set, remaining essentially faceless and voiceless.
The banter and interaction between the band and the audience was virtually non-existent, as five complete songs played before any words were exchanged with the crowd. The brief diatribes that Haines shared with us were often lost on most of the audience due to the fuzzy vocal levels and strange topics (e.g., before playing Stadium Love, Haines likened the song to the national anthem for the band, which has both American and Canadian members). However, people seemed to enjoy themselves and were more dynamic than most Washington DC crowds, with a lot of dancing and fist pumping. Ultimately, as a band, that is what you want to see.
Underwhelming as the show was, I still enjoyed it more than I disliked it.
You can catch a live recording of the DC show from the NPR website here
Read an in-depth interview with Emily Haines by Spin Earth here.