Metric – Live & Sponsored

If you want to see free music, New York is a great city, maybe the best – particularly the level of music that you’d normally have to pay a...
Metric : Live

Metric : Live

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Click here for photos from this show in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery

Photos of Metric at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY on August 1st, 2018

Photos of Metric at 2016 Float Fest in San Marcos, TX

QRO’s review of Metric at Roseland Theater in Portland, OR on February 19th, 2016

Photos of Metric at 2015 Untapped San Antonio

Photos of Metric at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY on June 30th, 2015

Photos of Metric at 2014 Riot Fest in Chicago, IL

Photos of Metric at Bowery Ballroom in New York, NY on November 19th, 2013

Photos of Metric at Austin360 in Austin, TX on November 1st, 2013

Photos of Metric at Cynthia Woods Pavilion in The Woodlands, TX on October 27th, 2013

Photos of Metric at Stubb’s in Austin, TX on May 1st, 2013

Photos of Metric at Pearl Stable in San Antonio, TX on April 29th, 2013

QRO’s live review of Metric at Radio City Music Hall in New York, NY on September 23rd, 2012

Photos of Metric at 2012 Osheaga Music Festival in Montreal, PQ, Canada

QRO’s review of Metric at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 13th, 2012

Photos of Metric at 2012 Sasquatch! Festival in George, WA

Photos of Emily Haines & Sebastian Shaw at Juicy Couture for Fashion Night Out in New York, NY on September 10th, 2010

QRO’s review of Metric at Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn, NY on August 5th, 2010

Photos of Metric at Osheaga 2010

QRO’s review of Metric at Terminal 5 in New York, NY on June 17th, 2010

Photos of Metric at SXSW 2010 in Austin, TX

QRO’s review of Metric at Highline Ballroom in New York, NY on August 8th, 2008

Photos of Metric at All Points West 2008 in Liberty State Park, NJ

QRO’s review Emily Haines & James Shaw of Metric at Union Pool in Brooklyn, NY on September 7th, 2008

QRO’s review of Metric at Webster Hall in New York, NY on September 21st, 2007

If you want to see free music, New York is a great city, maybe the best – particularly the level of music that you’d normally have to pay a good amount for. Being the ‘center of the universe’ and all makes it the perfect place for some sponsor to make a splash with a big show, with a large base of music fans of all types, even easy access for farther musicians and VIPs. Add in the later bar closing times and top-notch transportation and there are a number of music venues to choose from, all the way from massive Madison Square Garden (QRO venue review) to tiny Cake Shop (QRO venue review). On Tuesday, November 29th, Steve Madden brought big names Metric to play an intimate, and yes, free, show at Music Hall of Williamsburg (QRO venue review).

Well, free if you could get it. Admittedly, the free tickets were all snapped up almost as soon as they went on ‘sale’ online, though there were other ways closer to the date to get tickets via giveaways and the like. This meant that Music Hall was packed, completely unsurprising for a band who have played the much larger likes of Terminal 5 (QRO live review there) and Radio City Music Hall (QRO live review there). And yes, there were a lot of VIPs (the balcony seemed to be reserved for them), creating a long line at the box office as they were all ‘on the list’ (including your correspondent, though no VIP wristband…).

All of those in attendance, from the hippest of VIP to the lowliest of free ticket schmoozer, got to see a special show. While only little over a year removed from their latest, Pagans In Vegas (QRO review), this was not a set that was all about the new album, but rather stretched across almost their entire discography. There were old songs like 2003 Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?’s “Dead Disco” and “Combat Baby” – indeed, the former also include a snippet of “Rock Me Now” from the even older Grow Up and Blow Away (released in 2007, but recorded & shelved in 2001), while the latter had an a-cappella moment where the crowd sang along. Meanwhile, 2005’s Live It Out came out with “Glass Ceiling”.

However, the bulk of the set was interestingly from their two records before the most recent, 2012’s Synthetica (QRO review) and 2009’s Fantasies (QRO review), which are probably their best known, as those were the ones that broke them out from cult Canadian favorite to the big-time. The night opened with Synthetica’s “Speed the Collapse”, and after “Ceiling” saw Synthetica single “Youth Without Youth” (QRO review) and Fantasies’ “Twilight Galaxy”. Later on after “Disco”, there was a Fantasies triptych in “Front Row”, “Sick Muse”, and “Collect Call” before returning to the Old World with “Combat Baby”. Indeed, there were only two from Pagans, “Cascades” (where singer Emily Haines wore a neon black-light green cape that billowed from the gusts of a fan, which also swirled her blonde locks), and into the encore break single “The Shade”.

The encore return saw another return, of Metric’s acoustic side. Haines and guitarist Jimmy Shaw came out on their own to play Fantasies’ “Gimme Sympathy” acoustic, a set staple that had fallen by the wayside more recently, with drummer Joules Scott-Key and bassist Joshua Winstead joining in for Synthetica’s “Breathing Underwater”, before another acoustic outro to finish the night. Unfortunately there wasn’t much banter at all from the band – Haines is known for her funny rambles – but perhaps Steve Madden wanted maximum music for their performance.

New York City is an expensive place to live as everyone knows, but there are perks that no one really talks about, from America’s best subway system (which means you can drink more when you go out and not worry about how you’re getting home) to just being in the center of the universe. Every musical act worth anything is going to play the Big Apple, and you’ve even got a good chance to see them for free, up close, like Metric, thanks to footwear company Steve Madden.

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