Metric @ Highline Ballroom

Metric
@ Highline Ballroom
New York, NY - August 8, 2008

Who needs the All Points West Festival? All you need is 1:30 in the morning in the Meat Packing District in a slick, sleek yet (yes) meaty venue to see the slick, sleek yet meaty Toronto-based, New York-nutured, internationally-seeded hybrid that is Metric. Emily and the 3 J's came out rip-roaring with a stunningly powerful rendition of their triumphant "Dead Disco" (complete with sounds of old fighter planes crashing), a song so good that if the band produced nothing else they would still be one of the greatest bands of the decade. From there it was a journey through some of their best work - notably "Hand$hake$", "Poster of a Girl", "Rock Me Now", "Hustle Rose", and "Empty" with a peppering of some new material before a set ending celebration with "Combat Baby" - a performance that maximized both band skill and crowd participation. "Doo doo doos" never sounded so good...until the band returned for their encore and kicked it off with another new song, the fantastic "Stadium Love" which actually runs over "Combat Baby" in the "doos" department, and should be a smash hit when it is finally put on record. "Monster Hospital" served as the final house shaker before Emily and James turned "Live It Out" into a sweet natured show ending ballad.

Like the last time they played, Metric appears to be a showcase for Emily Haines, and not just because she's dressed like an aluminum cave woman. But the beauty of Metric is that it really is a full-blown band with four equal members making it work. It sort of sneaks up on you, what with the enigmatic blondie in a little dress running around up there on stage, but this is a really accomplished, really complete band. In other words, omg it's love. <3