It’s hard to believe that Metric has been at this for 15 years. On stage, they are vibrant and alive with a youthful energy bubbling right underneath the service. They were only opening, so they wasted no time before diving right into hits. They began with the ever-so-fitting “Stadium Love”. It was loud, it was bright – it was everything the audience wanted. Front-babe Emily Haines is effortlessly cool – a mystifying mix of energy and apathy. She doesn’t try to get your love, she just has it.
After starting with a bang, they slipped into their new electro-fueled groove “Too Bad, So Sad” from the forthcoming album Pagans In Vegas and I have to admit – I didn’t really love this track until I saw them perform it. It’s massive. Call me a purist but my favorite moments came during their classic anthems live “Help, I’m Alive” and “Synthetica”.
Although they were technically opening for Imagine Dragons, it was very clear the Metric fans were out en force. The entire stadium floor was packed by 8:15 to see this brief (but brilliant) nine-song set. The newly refurbished Forum is undoubtedly the best venue to see large scale shows like this in Los Angeles—it’s rare for Metric to be in this type of environment and they owned it. Stole the show, actually. Arena rock suits them very well.
