On the night of Tuesday, Oct. 2 the lights came up as Metric took the stage. The international indie rock band, originally from Toronto, graced the stage of Delmar’s popular music venue, The Pageant.
Metric began in 1998 and features the vocals, guitar, tambourine and synthesizer by Emily Haines; guitarist James Shaw; bassist Joshua Winstead; and drummer Joules Scott-Key. Metric is known for their angst and defiant, yet danceable, pop rock, using both the synthesizer and the guitar to produce their unique sound.
The show’s set was a mixture of their popular older music and music from their newest album “Synthetica.” Haines’ dancing, skipping, jumping and shaking around the stage along with the laser light show created an interactive experience and pushed the crowd into a frenzy. The band put so much energy into the music that they produced a completely different sound than their recognized recorded songs on the radio. The high stamina show ended on a somber acoustic note as they said goodbye with their lullaby, “Gimmie Sympathy.”
The band has been consistently producing music since its inception. Their debut album, “Grow Up and Blow Away,” was released in Canada in 2001. It featured the popular songs, “Help I’m Alive” and “Gold Guns Girls,” which were both performed in the show’s set. Their first official album, released in 2003,was called “One World Underground” and featured the popular song, “Combat Baby.”
“Synthetica,” was released in June of this year. The new album stays true to Metric’s defiant nature. The first single, “Youth without Youth,” is a dark song depicting social decay with an energetic enthralling beat. Other songs premiered at the show were “Clone” and “Artificial Nocturne.”
In 2005 they broke into America by being featured on the soundtrack of two major Hollywood films. Their song “Black Sheep” was performed alongside names like Beck and Frank Black in “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” The “Twilight Saga: Eclipse” soundtrack featured “Eclipse (All Yours).”
Half Moon Run, a fresh, new band also from Canada, opened for Metric. The young, four-man group performed songs from their debut album, “Dark Eyes,” including the songs “Full Circle” and “She Wants to Know.”
Half Moon Run is also indie rock band with strong influences from folk and electronica music. They incorporated multiple drums, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboard and a harmonica into their very moving set that previewed the best of their album. Though the album is currently only available in Canada, it can be found online.
Metric and Half Moon Run only graced the city streets of St. Louis for one night as they continued their American tour across the country.
