REVIEWWhat: Metric with StarsWhere: Save-on-Foods Memorial CentreWhen: Friday nightRating: Four and a half stars (out of five)
It was homecoming of sorts and a new journey all in one for a pair of acclaimed indie bands playing the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday night.
Metric and Stars, two groups with a shared history that includes membership in Toronto collective Broken Social Scene, drew a modestly sized crowd to the arena on Blanshard Street for huge-sounding sets of sterling indie pop and danceable synth-rock. Those who missed it missed out, because the counterbalance of critical acclaim and commercial appeal by these acts 聴 who have paid their local dues, working stages in clubs like Logan聮s Pub (Stars) and Sugar (Metric) going back nearly a decade 聴 was amazing.
They were both fit for the big stage last night, and though the career of Metric is what opened that door, they both walked through it last night fully deserving of their place.
Funny then, that Stars should take the stage to the sounds of the Paul McCartney and Wings hit Let 聮Em In, which was interrupted a few seconds in by a clearly stoked Torquil Campbell.
聯I can聮t believe I聮m playing an arena with my buddies. This is f聴king amazing,聰 shouted the Stars frontman, one of the group聮s two singers. 聯We聮re Stars, and so are you.聰
The Montreal-Toronto six-piece had worked a few kinks out by the halfway point of its set opener, The Theory of Relativity, which drew a robust roar from the small crowd gathered for their 8 p.m. set. The crowd had grown considerably more vocal by the close of Stars聮s 45-minute effort, and by the finale, the audience had nearly doubled in size. Fittingly, they were bouncing along in unison at the wrap of one whopper of an opening set.
Campbell appeared to be the more animated of the two Stars singers, treating the stage like a pop pulpit from which he snarled and shook. Amy Millan, she of the hugely impressive, rafter-rattling voice, was somewhat less agitated but no less powerful. She drove a stake into We Don聮t Want Your Body 聴 a duet with Campbell (from 2010聮s The Five Ghosts) that saw the longtime friends jostle joyfully for position 聴 and was generally all kinds of awesome for the duration of her time on stage.
The band gave everything right up to the end. With a pogoing Campbell flanked by a whirling, dancing Millan 聴 looking smooth as ever while perched high atop a set of perilous stiletto heels 聴 the band said goodbye on a remarkable high. It was the type of performance that often makes life difficult for the night聮s headliner.
That would have been an issue if the top draw wasn聮t Metric, a band whose steady career ascent has taught them a few things about being prepared. Well equipped, they were: Each member out front 聴 singer Emily Haines, guitarist Jimmy Shaw and bassist Josh Winstead 聴 was behind a four-legged instrument of some sort. Add these synthesizers, samplers and keyboards to their respective instruments, and you聮ve got one crowded stage.
The end result was a thick, copiously layered sound structure 聴 loud enough but never overwhelming (until late, that is, when the thump went epic). Everything on the first date of Metric聮s inaugural headlining arena tour was within reason, for the most part. The production was minimal, with a few banks of LED screens, an attempt to parallel the tech mindset behind the group聮s new recording, Synthetica.
Metric relied heavily on keyboards during the first half of its set, de-emphasizing its rock tendencies with six consecutive songs from Synthetica. The quartet didn聮t fully arrive 聴 from a performance perspective 聴 until about 45 minutes in, when Haines prowled the front of the stage, tambourine in hand, during a version of their early hit, Empty.
The crowd of 3,371 got into it at this point. Help, I聮m Alive, another big hit, helped coalesce the crowd further, and Metric never looked back. There were highlights aplenty (if Sick Muse and Dead Disco were huge, Stadium Love was utterly massive) in what is easily the band聮s best local performance to date.
Haines never stopped moving, but each member did their part, a collective effort that helped the music sound 聴 and feel 聴 better as the night went along. Both bands put in fine work on this night, to be sure. From the opening note to final bow, it was spectacle at its finest.
