An entry about seeing Metric last night in Chapel Hill. Opening were The Lovely Feathers and a new favorite The Most Serene Republic.
Now that I’m back in North Carolina, and probably will be for a few months at least, I’ve made myself a promise to do several things to stave off the boredom and loneliness. One of them is to go see all the shows I could never buy tickets for when I was living here before. This plan started last night with the Metric show.
Metric are Canadian by way of Emily Haines’s stint at art school in Toronto, which might explain the appearance of the other bands on the bill, both Canadian. Despite surrounding themselves with pals from the great white north, Metric are still very much a Brooklyn art rock band; their songs are filled with portamento keyboard and muscular guitar lines, but can veer wildly into punk rock territory at the slightest provocation. I was most impressed by Haines’s performance, which was theatrical and obtuse. She sings with her entire body, striking a pose here and puntuating the political songs with the body language of a used car salesmen or your friendly neighborhood Bush crony. All in all very engaging stuff.
I’m still trying to get my head around The Most Serene Republic. With the exception of the Death Cab For Cutie/Dismemberment Plan shows from 2002 it’s just sort of understood that the opening band will be tolerated but not enjoyed. For the first time last night I found myself wishing for the middle act to be allowed an encore. I don’t know any more about them than you do - and Pitchfork has a pretty lame review of their album, which I have yet to hear after buying it last night. But wow. Interesting melodies, odd time signatures, trombone — very good stuff.
Tonight is matt pond PA at Local 506, which will continue my “see more shows” promise and bring the number of times I’ve seen them to three. This may be the last time before the break, as I’m informed that they’ve been picked as “one to watch” by Rolling Stone.