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Archive for the ‘Metz’ Category

METZ / Gouge Away / Rid of Me (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, April 20, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Gouge Away, Metz, Philadelphia, PA, Rid of Me, Underground Arts on April 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 20, 2024] METZ / Gouge Away / Rid of Me

I saw METZ open for Modest Mouse four years ago and my ears might still be ringing.  I knew of Metz from their noise filled chaotic but amazing albums.

Their live show was less about the abrasiveness and more about their intense stage presence.  I knew I wanted to see them headline a show.

I was really looking forward to going to this show and then the night of, I was just too exhausted to head out.  A lame excuse, but there it is.

They seem to be regularly playing though so I’m hopeful that I’ll get to see them next year.

The two bands that opened for them sound like a Pixies cover band and a PJ Harvey cover band.  I hadn’t looked them up before hand to see if either band sounded like the band they referenced.

Gouge Away is from Florida and are a perfect fit for METZ.  They are loud and abrasive with a female vocalist who can do quiet and screaming with equal fury.  I really like them and I’m even more bummed that I didn’t go now.

Rid of Me is from Philly and are described as “heavy melodic noise punk” which seems impossible.  They are definitely heavy.  Kind of slow heavy with lots of screamed vocals (lead and backing).  Lots of guitar riffs and a special Philly edge.

This would have been a great show.  Stupid lameness.

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METZ / Spiritual Cramp (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, October 24, 2022) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Cancelled, Deerhoof, Hello Mary, Metz, Philadelphia, PA, Scarlet, Spiritual Cramp, Underground Arts on October 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: October 24, 2022] METZ / Spiritual Cramp

I saw METZ open for Modest Mouse four years ago and my ears might still be ringing.  I knew of Metz from their noise filled chaotic but amazing albums.

Their live show was less about the abrasiveness and more about their intense stage presence.  I knew I wanted to see them headline a show.

I was unable to see them on their headline tour last year.  But I was pretty excited for this year’s 10 year anniversary tour.  But then, sort of out of the blue it was announced that they’d cancelled the fall leg of their tour (all of October).  There’s still no word on what happened [UPDATE: they did play the December shows, so, maybe they didn’t want to be on the east coast for Halloween).  No word yet on a rescheduled date.

Spiritual Cramp are a San Francisco punk band in the old school Ramonesy fashion.  Simple clean and fast with a singer who kind of blurts out the words.  They’re kind of refreshing, frankly.

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METZ / Preoccupations (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, December 11, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Canadian Music, Metz, Philadelphia, PA, Preoccupations, The Foundry on December 11, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 11, 2021] METZ / Preoccupations

I saw METZ open for Modest Mouse four years ago and my ears might still be ringing.  I knew of Metz from their noise filled chaotic but amazing albums.

Their live show was less about the abrasiveness and more about their intense stage presence.  I knew I wanted to see them headline a show.

And then they announced it.  A headlining show at my favorite small venue (actually, this place might have been too small for them).  I was so psyched, until I saw that it fell on the same day as our holiday party.

Realistically there was no way I could go.  What a bummer.

Turns out later on, the band Stars announced their show for the same night and since I’ve never seen Stars, I would have picked them instead.  But what a drag when schedules can’t line up.

I’ve actually seen Preoccupations twice already, once in the Foundry opening for Protomartyr.  They used to be called Viet Cong, but wisely changed that name.  They put on a great live show.  This would have been a killer double bill.

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Metz (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, October 11, 2017) [MODEST MOUSE]

Posted in Canadian Music, Metz, Modest Mouse, Nirvana, Sayreville, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Starland Ballroom on October 11, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 11, 2017] Metz

2017-10-11-20-23-18-e1508356087344 (1)I knew of Metz from NPR, which is kind of funny given the kind of in your face pummeling metal noise that this three-piece from Canada makes.

I was pretty psyched that they were opening for Modest Mouse (not exactly the most logical fit).  But I should have learned from the last time I saw Modest Mouse at Starland Ballroom that there would be a huge line outside–I missed a lot of Mimicking Bird’s set last time.  This time I missed the opening minute or so of Metz’ set.  But it was loud enough that I could hear it from where I was standing.

And when I got onto the floor itself it was plenty loud enough. (more…)

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Roddy Doyle–”Teaching” (New Yorker, April 2, 2007)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Canadian Music, Depression, Drinking, Dublin, Ireland, Haim, Humiliation, Irish Writer, Metz, New Yorker, Roddy Doyle, Set at School, Short Story on March 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

2007_04_02_p139SOUNDTRACK: METZ-“Wet Blanket” (Live at SXSW, March 20, 2013).

metzIt’s amazing how much different two bands can sound (comparing Haim from yesterday to Metz from today).  Obviously, they play very different styles of music, but Metz is just three guys and they are loud and bass heavy and raucous. Whereas Haim, with their four members, have practically no low end at all.  It’s an amazing look at how different bands can be while playing basically the same instruments.

Anyhow, Metz are a noise rock trio from Canada.  I’d never heard of them before this song.  There’s a lot of noise as the song opens, but once the groove starts, it’s fast and heavy with pounding drums and a persistent, fast bass.  The band, who are dressed nicely (the singer guitarist has a button down shirt open over his T-shirt), are really abrasive and punky.  And the singer/screamer is a wild man–climbing on the bass drum to wail his solo, feedbacking the guitar from the amps and not even playing the guitar as he screams into the microphone (but there is noise, so I wonder if he has an echo effect on).  At one point someone in the audience even holds the microphone closer to him while he screams as he seems to be having trouble with it.

It’s an intense set and I’d like to hear more from them.  Their debut came out last year (on Sub Pop).

You can watch this song here.

[READ: March 26, 2013] “Teaching”

Another story from Doyle, this one is a dark story about being an old and near-retirement teacher (Doyle was himself a teacher).

The story opens with a girl saying that he, the teacher, knew her mother.  This has been happening more and more now that the students he taught when he was young have had children who are now as old as they were.  The girl says her mom fancied him and he makes a poor joke wondering if the girl can believe it, but he’s just made uncomfortable by the exchange.

In fact, he mostly just seems to want to try to get through the day.  It’s only September and he has a whole school year ahead of him.  He never drinks at school, that is a rule he will always abide by, but that doesn’t mean he won’t drink after school.   Which he does.  Although to describe him as an alcoholic (which I guess he is) kind of takes something away from the thrust of the story.  The alcohol is a part of who he is but it doesn’t impact the story, exactly. (more…)

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