[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Metric
When this tour (dubbed All the Feelings) was announced, I knew I was going immediately. Stars, Broken Social Scene and Metric? Three great Canadian bands who have all played with each other? It sounded wonderful.
I saw Metric back in 2022 and thought their show was fantastic. Their album Fantasties was one of my favorite albums of 2009. I hadn’t listened to their subsequent albums as much, but I really enjoyed that show. And I was excited for this one. Their new album is much more synth poppy, which I didn’t love. But I figured it sounded like a great opportunity for a live show.
I was somewhat taken aback when the stage setup was revealed for Metric. In hindsight it didn’t look very different from the last time–dark and spare with lots of room for walking around. But it was such a stark difference from the warm, crowded stage for Stars and Broken Social Scene.
The drums were straight back on a riser. On either side of the riser were electronic gadgets. Full sized gear that was lit up with colorful lights. In the center of the stage was a small table with a keyboard and a light. It was perfectly symmetrical.
The band came out and, holy cow, they had banks of lights al around the stage, including right at the front and those lights shone right at the people in the front row. I felt like the family in front of me was really unhappy about that. At any rate, they left about half way through the set for whatever reason.
I was front and center for this show so, I was right in front of Emily Haines. Joules Scott-Key on drums in the back–but so dark that I could barely see him for most of the show. Joshua Winstead was on to my right. He often went back to that bank of electronica to do whatever he had to do. I always enjoyed watching him play bass because he seemed to play very hard–even if sometimes the electronics drowned him out. On the left was James Shaw playing guitar and also doing whatever to the wall of dials and gears he had back there.
They opened with their new single Victim of Luck, a song I love. It sounded great. I enjoyed that Emily would move her table of gear around the stage–sometimes parking it up front, other times pushing it out of the way to give her more room to more around. Up next was Formentera, with a thumping bass and ringing guitars.
Youth Without Youth is another new song with some jagged guitars and a propulsive beat. I wondered how some of the sounds were being generated. Sometimes Emily played the keyboard, but other times, I’m guessing that James had manipulated the sounds so that his guitar sounded more like a synth. I also enjoyed the Go Go Go Go part.
Then they played two songs from their second album. The bouncy Monster Hospital and the more moody Poster of a Girl. (more…)
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