Metric @ House of Blues, Boston

2009 has brought a lot of great shows to Boston so far, but to every rule, there is an exception.  Unfortunately, for me, that exception was Metric.


The band filled up the House of Blues (capacity of over 2,400 people), which is always a good omen.  Their track "Twilight Galaxy" was a great opening song - a relatively slow-mo tune with a strong synth foreshadowing an electro-rock explosion.  The band followed this with "Help, I'm Alive".  You would've expected that their hit-single would have brought the so-called explosion, but it didn't.


Emily Haines barely spoke to the fans, and although I know artists are not politicians or professional speakers, what's wrong with showing some appreciation to the fans?  It's simple math; I call it establishing a connection with the audience. And so... without this connection, the show went on with a few peaks along the curb (like their performance of "Dead Disco"), but altogether it felt like a listening party, where you join the masses, give away beer and press play.


My friend said I wasn't feeling it largely because of the venue; at least, for him, the House of Blues was "the McDonald's of concert halls".  I'm not sure I agree with this.  Although the atmosphere might be slightly fabricated, I've felt more pumped in other shows with similar features (in terms of audience capacity, size of venue, genre of the show and target audience).

Anywho... I love concerts, and I got to see the Canadian-US band live.  I must say that, although on a much smaller scale, the show You Can Be a Wesley put up after Metric at the restaurant of the HofB was great.  It is not the best place they've performed, as in there is no real stage and the sound could be better tuned, but the Wesleys' signature beat and familiar faces made the night worthwhile, after all.