photos and words by Chona Kasinger
Though regretfully absent at the last Broken Social Scene show at the Showbox Sodo in February, jack-of-all-trades front woman Emily Haines and friends took center stage at the Showbox at the Market last night around 10:20 PM. The heat inside this sold out venue swelled to a calescent broil as Canadian five piece Metric blasted off into an onslaught of their vast catalogue, including their new single “Help Me I’m Alive.” Around five songs in, Haines paused to plaudit Washington’s own Bear Creek Studios before dedicating the 6th track off their new album, Fantasies, “Gimme Sympathy” to Seattle, in which she curiously broods “Who would you rather be, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?”
Haines glass doll voice has a breathy, yet breathless quality at the same time. The contrast of this with James Shaw’s sporadic shredding on guitar highlighted the band’s trademark musical aesthetic as they dove into the ambulance-wailing intro of dancer “Dead Disco.” There was certainly no shortage of pretty girls in dresses honing their best dance moves.
Metric was recently added to the crescive list of bands on the Bumbershoot lineup this year. Catch them on Monday night while you eat your funnel cakes and tall (and egregiously greasy) order of curly fries!
2 Comments
Great review and ultra-cool photos wish I should have, would have been there. Thanks for this post.
It was a rad show! This review mentions a “five-peice Metric”, when there are actually only four members- not sure what show the reviewer was watching. It was extremely hot in there though, maybe some heat induced hallucinations were a factor?
Speaking of the heat, props to the Showbox security guys for spraying water onto the front of the crowd frequently throughout the night. This is extremely appreciated, and does not happen at enough shows!
Metric played Fantasies in their entirety (I think) and a lot of the songs were definitely superior when heard live. Dead Disco and Handshakes, from earlier CDs were also played. The show ended with a extended, mellower version of Live-It-Out which Emily Haines described as, “like, our Free-Bird”. The show was awesome and he band seemed genuinely emotional about it and appeared to be enjoying themselves quite a bit on stage.