Metric

It is rare for me, as a straight female, to fall head over heels in love with a woman, but at the Metric concert I fell, and I fell hard, for Emily Haines.

Haines, a meteoric vocalist, demands nothing less than abject admiration and adoration, as she vocally matched and overpowered the din of the accompanying rock band with ease. All the while, she bounced across the stage in a stream of undying energy, enthusiastically pumping her fist in the air.

Hair flowing like a halo, Haines rocked back and forth, throwing herself into the music while her fingers flew over the keyboard. She didn’t just sing. She didn’t just play. She enthralled. She hit all the highs and all the lows, never missing a beat. A natural performer, Haines easily danced between instruments, moving from the keyboard to the tambourine to the guitar and back again. Meanwhile, her energy never slackened and her vocals never faltered.

Prior to seeing Metric live there were only a few recorded songs that I loved. Having now seen them live, their recordings come to life, echoing the remnants of the energetic performance—the pervasive joy, overwhelming emotional connection, and utterly captivating aura of the band.

The openers proved impressive as openers in New York City, yet paled in comparison to the unsurpassable performance by Metric. Unfortunately, NYC hosts an overwhelmingly large number of unimpressive openers, so it was with surprise that I eagerly embraced the Texan band Smile Smile. Summery, feel good tunes filled Terminal 5, proving both relaxing and soothing. Ryan Hamilton’s steely, nasally vocals melded with Jencey Hirunrusme’s sensuously smooth tones.

Any sense of relaxation and ease was instantly demolished when Sebastien Grainger took the stage in his patterned white jumpsuit. Easy listening folk was replaced by energetic rock as the performance commenced. Grainger put on a show that enticed visually and aurally. Jumping with the beat right up against the microphone, his body screamed the emotions of his music as he screwed up his face, clutched the mic, and squeezed his eyes shut in passion.

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Video of interview and performance of "Help I'm Alive" with Emily Haines! Also, an opportunity to download the acoustic track from Metric, in exchange for your email address! Cheap!