The atmosphere was electric at The Fillmore Philly on Sunday, October 23rd. While some of the excitement was due to the Phills clinching a World Series berth, the main reason was due to acclaimed Canadian indie/alternative band Metric coming to town in support of their latest LP Formentera. The date in Philly was one of the last on the North American leg of their Doomscroller tour, which the band kicked off in August.
Spanning a 20+ year career to date, Formentera is the band’s 8th studio LP. The last time I caught the band live was when they played The Troc (RIP) in 2007. Their earliest albums (Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? and Live It Out) made them celebrated darlings of the music blogs; however, it was their 2009 masterpiece Fantasies that really put them on the map. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Emily Haines’ solo project Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton – her 2006 solo debut Knives Don’t Have Your Back is still one of my favorite albums of all time and I was there when she performed it live at the First Unitarian Church (also in 2007). Have 15 years really passed since the last time I’ve seen them?
Opening for Metric was Miss Grit, the musical project of Margaret Sohn. Performing as a 2-piece, it was a minimalist setup with Sohn on guitar and vocals. Sohn’s fuzzed out guitar tone is the straight up bees knees. Stylistically, my best lazy comparison is a cross between St. Vincent and Mitski – if you’re a fan of either, you’ll dig Miss Grit. They ended their set with recently released single “Like You“.
Metric aptly kicked off their set with “Doomscroller”, a 10+ minute track that’s a major highlight on Formentera. It starts off like a club banger before evolving into a very Haines-esque ballad for its outro. They then upped the energy and launched into Fantasies track “Gold Guns Girls”. Mid-set, guitarist James Shaw accompanied Haines for acoustic performances of Old World Underground tracks “Calculation Theme” and personal favorite “Combat Baby”. It was a treat to see these songs that I’ve loved for so long performed stripped down – Haines kept the mood upbeat and jovially engaged the crowd. They finished out their set with “Gimme Sympathy” before coming back for an encore that included “Monster Hospital”, “Black Sheep”, and “Breathing Underwater”.
Metric’s North American Doomscroller tour is over, but you can see all of their upcoming tour dates in the UK/EU here. Check out their music video for Formentera track “False Dichotomy” below and keep scrolling for more photos from the show.
