Tonight’s show at the Metro was sold out, sweaty, and eager to welcome Metric back to Chicago. Support was lent by Sebastien Grainger who is a fellow Canadian and neighbor of Metric and Broken Social Scene guitarist James Shaw. Alas, I happened to arrive halfway through Sebastien Grainger and the Mountains‘ rockin set, MUCH to my dismay.  (The Metro, once again, put forth a misleading set list, with three bands on the marquee starting at 7:30 and doors open an hour earlier. I really should learn that it means the first band begins when doors open, not at the starting time, grrrr!) Let me tell you, if you’ve not heard Sebastien Grainger you really should. “American Names” is just a taste of what he’s capable of, and with the band behind him it all just explodes. Listen to that bass line on ”By Cover of Night (Fire Fight)” … you know what a good bass player does to me!  I’m humble enough to admit that I had no idea what I was walking into, by the end of the night I was completely starstruck with this band. So much so that all I could do was stalk the poor man until the last possible minute and ask for him to autograph my CD… oh darlings,… the Tart is just hopeless sometimes. But it really is about the music, I would love to sit down and pick his brain for about three days on how he thinks about what he plays… sigh. … go buy his album, Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains

Is it completely wrong to begin a concert review with discussion of the supporting band? Well, I don’t care! Metric was fantastic, you all know that. Emily Haines sang in good form, looked fantastic, much like these great photos I swiped off flickr for you from a show they did in London a few weeks back.
The band took the stage, dramatically. Throughout the show there were pregnant pauses with prolonged organ notes and lighting changes while guitars were swapped or Emily crouched down to her water bottle. She was a dynamo, rarely standing still and every moment completely engaged with the band or the audience. In the hour long show with two encores Metric performed 11 songs and two encores, most off their new album, Fantasies with a few standards thrown in. (click that link to buy it)

Twilight Galaxy
Help I’m Alive
Satellite Mind
Handshakes
Gold Guns Girls
Gimme Sympathy
Sick Muse
Empty
Front Row
Dead Disco
Stadium Love
Monster Hospital
Live It Out

When I chatted with Jimmy Shaw afterwards, about his guitar solos, he talked about how no matter what kind of skill you’ve got as a guitarist, if you’re not right there with the band, feeling it with them, your solo just isn’t gonna turn out that great. Sometimes it’s like you’re standing next to the rest of your bandmates and trying to reach through a membrane to feel them, to get in the groove of things (I’m paraphrasing here). That was certainly not the case at the Metro. Tonight’s solos were fantastic, I told him so and he meekly agreed. “Gold Guns Girls” featured a fucking awesome squealing, short guitar bit that made me crane my head around the tall guy in front of me. I noticed the guy next to me who wouldn’t dance also perked up about this time and it suddenly became clear what this crowd was about. There were lots more girls in the mix tonight… young women out with their girlfriends and dancing; I had expected that. Women flock to Emily’s personality and lyrics. It wasn’t the usual concert where the ratio is more like 3 to 1. But there were some stoic guys, on their own, not moving, not even daring to nod their heads for fear that their Midwestern cool factor might slide. Well, by the time Metric got to “Empty” they had to let go. Shaw’s guitar was screaming now… for a full three minutes or so, and every Guitar Hero freak in the room was on tiptoe trying to get a peek at what he was doing. I wish I had been closer to see the wonderful Joshua Winstead on bass as well.

Emily chatted with the audience amicably throughout the show, reminiscing about their first gig in Chicago, above the Empty Bottle. “A lot has changed since our first time in Chicago…I’m wearing pants now, though I’m sure some photographers are sorry, haha.” She asked if anyone had been there, with a laugh, and a gang of fans in front of me jumped and shouted YES! We were all happy when she told them they should be in the first row, they were a royal pain in the ass to be with anyway, exuberance 10x. The best quote of the night was after “Twilight Gallery” speaking of heroes, Emily told us “Kim Gordon, she’s my hero because she doesn’t make me want to be like Kim Gordon, she wants me to be like Emily Haines.” Many many cheers were heard after that one! I think I can safely say, Emily Haines and the rest of Metric had a great time tonight in our city. They’re heading out to Detroit tomorrow; of course we all booed them when they told us that. I guess that Chicago/Detroit antagonism will never die. But mostly I think we just didn’t want to let them go.

Tour Dates
06.15.09 – St. Andrews Hall – Detroit, MI
06.17.09 – Terminal 5 – New York, NY
06.18.09 – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
06.19.09 – Trocadero – Philadelphia, PA
06.20.09 – Edge Fest – Toronto, Ontario
06.27.09 – Glastonbury Festival (Other Stage) – Pilton, UK
07.04.09 – Virgin Festival 09 – Citadel Hill – Halifax, Nova Scotia

very special thanks to Sneak Attack Media