The rhythm is fierce, the music blasting, the strobes blinding and the crowd already conquered: its Metric on stage! Are you ready?!
They started their performance with the online released (and less known) “Black Sheep” making more than one wonder in the crowd if it was a new song. It didn’t take long to have everyone in the crowded Molson Amphitheatre raising their arms in the sky, dancing and singing with “Poster of a Girl”, brightly followed by ” Help I’m Alive”. Haines sounded almost out of breath, but it might just have been the emotion of playing in front of her hometown crowd and likely the biggest venue yet played in Toronto.
One this is sure: Emily jumps, dances, struts and shakes her head all while her voice nails every note…like a hammer! Jimmy, Josh and Jules music is flawless, with numerous guitar solos, and Haines’ presence draws everyone in the crowd to an unstoppable franctic dance.
The “softest” moment of the night is when Haines, joined by a string quartet, plays ”Doctor Blind” from her solo album, softly followed by Twilight new soundtrack “All Yours”.
Metric proves once again to be genuine and true to its roots: a Canadian band that slowly but surely made its way to being “the” band to look out for and that we are going to hear about for a long time coming.
They might have wrote the soundtrack of Twilight’s final movie Eclipse “All Yours”, or have both “Monster Hospital” and ”Police and the Private” on a hit TV show, but that doesn’t stop Metric from being extremely grateful and humble in front of its crowd. When Emily stops and takes a moment, speachless in front of thousands just to say ” Thank you”, I think they all realised that they have what they sing: Stadium Love!
If you missed the show last night, you might want to check out when Metric is coming your way and if you just can’t wait that long, take a peak to some of the videos I took last night. Click on the title and enjoy!
A couple new discoveries worth mentioning: first off, R&B Toronto singer Erin Hunt. Her melodies and vocals are turning heads and she’s on the top 10 aspiring to play this summer at Lilith Fair. Best of luck and if you have the chance definitely go check her out.
Second off, John O. of Diamond Rings (picture). Pet Shop boys meets New Order sound alike. Definitely colorful and entertaining and likely the best of the night.
To complete the night what else but to throw in some Loud Rock/Metal from C’mon at the Gladstone and some punk music from Toronto band Styrofoam Ones. Crowd loved them and band members seemed to enjoy themselves! To view more photos click here
On the menu on night 1: Seattle punk band Mudhoney & Los Angeles punk band X. Both band have been around for decades and the crowd at Dundas Square seemed to enjoy being outside in wonderful weather, with a beer on hand and a free concert to watch!
A quick bike ride to Kensington Market to catch Irish band Autumn Owls and then off to the El Mocambo to see Madrid and Warped 45’s.
It wasn’t a late night but its just the start of the week-end. It is just Thursday after all…for more photos check the photo gallery
After an amazing 2 months trip in SE Asia Offtrax is back!
Its been a great experience. I’ve seen places I’d been wanting to see for years, met people that will forever stay in my life and shared all of this with the person I love. I couldn’t have asked for more.
We’ve managed to see 9 countries in 66 days. Miles of laughters, craziness, wildness, madness and happiness (*and not necessarily all in this order).
This trip had a purpose: make me appreciate what I have and make me realize once again that I am a lucky person.
I’d like to thank my life partner for experiencing this with me: I couldn’t have done it without her and wouldn’t have wanted to either.
I have many funny adventures to tell and will do so along with sharing photos of wonderful places.
A special thank you goes also to the amazing people back at work who have let me go and experience the wonders of the world.
Love,
Offtrax
23-Years-old Florence Welch,the red head behind Florence and The Machine, will
have you shake your head, dance, sing and jump in no time.
Her debut album,Lungs, nominated for Britains Mercury Prize and best album of the Year is a must have in your growing music collection. Yes, you will want to drive your car blasting “Dogs days are over”; you will sing at the top of your lungs “Kiss with a Fist” while holding your bottle of shampoo in the shower;and yes you will end up having a romantic dinner with your significant other while in the background plays “Cosmic Love”.
Have I convinced you yet? If not, well…read on!
Earlier this week Florence and The Machine performed at the Mod Club, one of the stops on her first North American tour. I’ve known about Florence & Co. since the Iceland Airwaves Festival last year,where she first “mesmerized” me with her voice. Florence and The Machine is not only about her powerfull “roar”, its also about the intensity of the words she uses in her songs: “A kick in the teeth is good for some,a kiss with a fist is better than none”. To this add her theatrical performance on stage where not only Florence dances but orders the crowd into a jumping session and you got yourself quite the concert!
I personally was amazed to see that everyone, boys included, knew all the words to EVERY song!
When Florence dedicated “Hospital Beds” (the cover of Cold War Kids), she set the “adoring” crowd on fire and when playing “Dog Days” she had them all jumping. Florence Welsh definitely knows how to keep her crowd captivated.
So really, whats not to like? Maybe only the fact that I do like her better live than on CD.
So, if you get the chance don’t miss the chance to see her live before she gets too big,
because you know: it’s already happening!
Emily Haines delivered a high energy performance in the first of the two sold out nights at Massey Hall. After touring all over the world, Haines & Co. seemed to be gladly happy to be back in their hometown.
Starting off with “Twilight Galaxy”, then onto their actual biggest hit “Help, I’m alive”, Metric seemed to be ecstatic about playing in the historic venue. With Emily bouncing, head shaking and march dancing all over the stage it didn’t take too long for the crowd to follow.
The setlist was mainly drawn from their latest album “Fantasies” although some of their oldest songs like “Poster of a Girl” and “Dead Disco”, nearly took down the house!
Unfortunately for me, I ended up being seated in the “lamest” section of it all: on the second balcony in the only section where all were politely sitting down. What the hell people? Oh, and in the only section where apparently holding my cellphone to use it as a light to write down some notes was material to get me almost kicked out 3 times (!!!) from the venue. Yes, my little piece of crap cellphone is apparently a very powerful recording device kids! Massey Hall security…really? Give me a break!
When Emily called out to the second and third balcony to stand up right after James Shaw extended version of “Gold Guns Girls” the crowd went crazy. Followed by “Empty” and the oh so beloved “Gimme Sympathy”, Metric had us all singing. Then Emily took a moment, looked up and said: “Its no secret that Metric has got a lot of love. From the Horseshoe, to the Phoenix, to the Koolhaus, to the Mod Club, we’re now proud to fill even Massey hall! Because we got “Stadium Love” Toronto!” It must certainly feels nice after all these years, after all the sacrifices and efforts, to get a standing ovation from the crowd. When Metric came back for the encore, I bet all of us wished it wasn’t the end already. Emily and James came back on stage to sing an acoustic version of ” Combat Baby”, making the entire crowd sing along and ending a wonderful night.
Punk rock trio Gossip was in town last week and what a show did they perform! My feet were tapping to the beat, my legs dancing non stop and the screaming crowd seemed to be just as into it as I was!
If you don’t know the band then you should definitely check them out. Gossip has been out there for 10 years, and finally their latest album “Music for Men” has been picked up by major label Columbia.
The song that made them popular “Standing in the way of control” is part of their other album and if this doesnt make you want to scream out loud then…you gotta problem!
So do yourself a favor check their albums on iTunes, and if you think I’m completely out of line with this suggestion then do me a favor and write a comment!
Now back to the show, where all I see is screaming and dancing people (me included)! Lead singer Beth Ditto definitely has presence on stage: with her powerful voice, her flaming red hair and rock-punk looks she knows how to capture her audience attention. And to those who wrote that she shouldn’t wear a tube-dress because she weights more than 200 pounds I say: have you seen yourself lately in the mirror? At least Beth Ditto has the guts to do it , and better later on in the night for the encore she ditches the dress completely for a lingerie kit while singing Tina Turner’s “Whats love got to do with it?”. So whats not the like here?!
The night ended with the second song of her encore: Standing in the Way of Control. For you to enjoy right here:
Last night the Air Canada Centre saw Pink setting the crowd on fire right from the beginning with her AC/DC cover of “highway to hell” while a video sees her riding a motorcycle then setting her house on fire,
her enthousiasm spread into the crowd right from the start.
Coming out from beneath the catwalk part of her stage, suspended by a cable and dressed with a red feathered dress, Pink made quite the entrance.
Supported by 5 dancers and her 4 band members Pink was all over the stage, running back and forth while singing ” Just like a Pill”, or “Funhouse”, her energy never stopping for the whole two hours of the show.
Although she made the few boys in the crowd scream: “take it all off!”,the only lowdown of the night was her cover of The Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself”, which saw her in a black neglige lying down and sensually rolling around on an red sofa.
The Funhouse stage itself was a real feast for all eyes: with slides on both sides to allow the dancers to slide around, a gigantic clown and joker shaped ballons (as tall as the Air Canada Centre itself!), a trapeze allowing performers to fly around ,couches and sofa coming out of nowhere, and performers starting a pillow fight that had feathers flying all over the stage!You name it: this show had it all!!
I lost count of Pink’s costumes changes on and off stage: from carnival like costumes, to red feathers, to black lingerie, to jeans and a white tank top, Pink never ceased to surprise the crowd.
From time to time Pink stopped to talk, saying ” I really like this town, and I don’t like a lot of places!”. Then again, asking the crowd: “How many of you can dance?And how many of you are terrible dancers? I want to see your worst dance moves!” while goofing around and making a few weird dance moves of her own.
Pink slowed the pace when her and the other band members sat down in front of the crowd in what she call her fake campfire to sing “I don’t believe you”, and the touching”Dear Mr. President”. As Pink said: “Dear Mr President might be outdated since he’s no longer our president, but even if I like our new one, I won’t stop questioning him too!”Next was another acoustic version of “Trouble”, a cover of Led Zeppelins “Babe I’m gonna leave you”, and “Sober” this last one featuring two of her dancers performing on an aerial trapeze.
She ended her show with “Lets get the party started”: but Pink, really, you had the party started the moment you flew into this city!
The rhythm is fierce, the music blasting, the strobes blinding and the crowd already conquered: its Metric on stage! Are you ready?!
NXNE 2010 – Night 3
NXNE 2010 – Night 2
23-Years-old Florence Welch,the red head behind Florence and The Machine, will
