Canadian alt-rockers Metric were in town last Thursday for a wild night at The Wiltern and they may be rock’s most underrated and most consistent live performers on planet earth.
Though their latest offerings the past three records or so have relied heavier on synths than their earlier work, the full power of sound is befitting of an arena venue rather than a theatre like The Wiltern.
Metric is touring in support of their latest record Formentera, of which they played six songs from that record. That included “Doomscroller”, which all of us in attendance were taken away from for nearly a couple of hours while Emily Haines and Co. jammed out.
Only two songs from their most recent prior record 2018’s Art of Doubt made the cut, but that included “Now or Never Now”, maybe the best song they’ve ever written. With so many hits in their back catalogue, it’s hard to get everything in, but they managed to make fans happy by playing “Gimme Sympathy”, “Gold Gun Girls”, “Help I’m Alive”, and “Breathing Underwater” in, as well as “Black Sheep” — made further famous by Brie Larson in the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
As long as this band keeps going, I’ll keep paying attention. I wish they got booked on more major U.S. music festival lineups.
Photos by Justin Higuchi
