Reviews and photos of Metric in Ottawa as they perform Fantasies at the Bronson Centre
[This comes via Zachary Resnick and Melody Maloney. – AC]
Metric kicked off a four-stop tour on Monday, June 2nd at Ottawa’s Bronson Centre, where they performed their Juno-winning album, Fantasies, in its entirety as well as some of the greatest hits.
Let me get this out of the way first: I’m a huge Metric fan. The chance to see one of my favorite bands performing one of my favorite albums felt like a dream come true. I used to listen to my copy so much I was worried that the CD would melt.
Fantasies, Metric’s fourth studio album, came out in 2009, went platinum in Canada, selling over 500,000 copies, and won the Juno for Alternative Album of the Year in 2010.
The Bronson Centre was packed full for this sold-out show, and as the house lights dimmed and blue tinted smoke spilled across the stage, the crowd began to ripple in anticipation.
Red and white lights exploded through the haze as Joules Scott-Key hammered out the familiar drum beats of “Help I’m Alive.” Lead vocalist Emily Haines waded through the fog, tambourine in hand, her voice powerful, expressive, familiar.
The band sounded tight on “Sick Muse” and I was struck by not only how polished these renditions were, but how complex the light show was on the Bronson Centre’s stage. Kudos to the VFX team. The song capped off with someone from the crowd shouting a hearty “YOU ROCK” in a moment of silence, prompting a smile from Haines.
“Twilight Galaxy” featured some gorgeous harmonies between Haines and longtime bandmate James Shaw. After 25 years together, their voices blend so, so well. Shaw’s guitar was, if you’ll pardon the pun, electric during the extensive solo, earing him a huge pop from the audience.
Metric then flowed into another of the hit singles off the album which kept the crowd at fever pitch. “Gold Guns Girls” was always my favorite track off this offering, and this rendition was as hard, gritty, and breakneck as ever.
The stage took on warm and intimate lighting, and the audience sung along for “Gimme Sympathy” before the hues turned violet and a little eerie for a moody rendition of “Collect Call.”
After the creeping, throbbing lyrics of “Front Row”, Haines took a minute to slow things down, talking to us about having found new meaning in the lyrics to “Blindness” concerning the world’s current political climate. This was easily the night’s most sombre number.
Fantasies big finish, “Stadium Love,” saw Haines prancing all over the stage and risers, leaving the crowd hooting along, long after the song had finished.
That was Fantasies, front to back, but Metric wasn’t done yet. The band launched into some of their other big hits, starting with “Dreams So Real” before moving into a rendition of “Youth Without Youth” that had more than a little funk on it.
There was an absolute eruption for “Dead Disco” which flowed directly into “Monster Hospital.” Big, heavy hitters both. At this point, the crowd was putty in Haine’s hands.
“Now or Never Now” was upbeat and big energy, another high point of the night, with pink ‘n’ poppy lighting accentuating the mood.
Haines and Shaw took a centre stage spotlight to introduce the band and offer thanks for listening to 25 years of Metric, before treating us to a soft, slow tempo rendition of “Breathing Underwater.”
Capping off the show, the band finished strong with “Black Sheep,” which was not only a dynamite number to close on, but a thematically appropriate bookend, as this song had originally been recorded for Fantasies, but was ultimately left off the album.
Metric took a collective bow and walked offstage to a thunderous standing ovation which didn’t break until the stage crew began clearing the band’s gear.
All in all, Metric was on point, and some of these songs were as good as I’ve ever heard them. Am I, as a fan, biased? Maybe. But that also means I expect a lot from my favorites. And if it’s anecdotal evidence you’re after, I can tell you that re-experiencing an album that I cherish in this way, well… a show hasn’t made me this happy in a long, long time.
