Rock band Metric is set to perform at the Marquee Theater in Tempe on Oct. 10. (Photo courtesy of Metric Official Website)Even Jimmy Eat World opening for Bill Clinton on the Tempe campus won’t draw Metric fans from the band’s show at Tempe’s Marquee Theater. The band, led by the wispy-rock voice of Emily Haines, is on tour performing its fifth studio album “Synthetica.”
Fans have been eagerly anticipating Metric’s return to Arizona, a rare stop for a band that typically plays in Canada, where the band is originally from, and in cities like Portland, Austin and Seattle.
The 2012 album’s opening track “Artificial Nocturne” revisits the band’s traditional rock sound through drummer Joules Scott-Key, though the song’s synthesized ending sets the tone for the 10 remaining songs.
Even in parts of the album where the heavier electronic vibe misses the mark, lyrics like “Got false lights for the sun / It’s an artificial nocturne / it’s an outsider’s escape from a broken heart,” deliver the imagery characteristic of Haines’ sophisticated writing.
Not entirely impressed with the 2012 album’s catchy-yet-repetitive single “Youth Without Youth,” Metric does melodically deliver with “Speed the Collapse,” arguably the best song on the CD, and playful tracks like “Lost Kitten” and slow songs of moving on like “Clone.”
The song “Wanderlust” departs from Metric’s usual choice for back-up vocals and acoustic performances, normally sung by lead guitarist Jimmy Shaw. In it, Lou Reed, American rock musician and principle writer for The Velvet Underground, joins Haines to lend a classic sound to the highly produced album.
The spooky final track “Nothing But Time” uses a dark piano melody as a base for a traditional, techno-sounding build. The song’s hopeful tone emerges toward the end when Haines calmly sings, “I wanted to be part of something / I got nothing but time / So the future is mine.”
As with any concert, fans can anticipate some throwback tracks. With five full studio albums and several feature film contributions, the band has plenty of fan favorites for listeners to binge on before the show and some new “Synthetica” tracks to put on repeat.
Tickets for the 6:30 show cost $28 and parking at the Mill Avenue venue is $5 per car.
10 must-listen Metric tracks:
- Black Sheep (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World soundtrack)
- Lost Kitten (Synthetica)
- Clone (Synthetica)
- Twilight Galaxy (Fantasies)
- Gold Guns Girls (Fantasies)
- Raw Sugar (Grow Up and Blow Away)
- The Twist (Grow Up and Blow Away)
- Too Little Too Late (Live it Out)
- The Police and the Private (Live it Out)
- On the Sly (Old World Underground)
