Metric played at Radio City Music Hall Sunday night on a tour promoting their new album, “Synthetica.” Since coming together in Toronto in 1998, the band has released five full-length albums, as well as songs for the “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” soundtracks.
After Half Moon Run’s opening act, Metric took the stage to raucous applause. The band opened with new album favorite “Artificial Nocturne,” as a light display flashed in the background. They went on to play through several more of their frantic and upbeat new songs.
Despite the black leather and lonely adolescent lyrics, frontwoman Emily Haines played the cheerleader more than anything else — jumping up and down on stage, leading the audience in clapping along and hair-flipping to the point of exhaustion. The crowd, who stayed on their feet for the entire show, dancing even when it was clear they didn’t know the words, returned her enthusiasm.
Metric is most famous for the song “Help I’m Alive,” the lead single from their 2009 album “Fantasies.” Clearly, much of the audience knew little of the band’s other music, a fact that rendered Haines’ attempts at call and response during other songs almost painful. But the band was energetic and loud enough to drum up enthusiasm for the whole night, albeit with a calmer end than its beginning.
One unexpected pleasure was the appearance of Lou Reed near the end of the show. He collaborated with Metric on “Synthetica” with “The Wanderlust,” which Haines introduced as a song “about imagining the world you want to live in.” After that, the pair sang “Pale Blue Eyes,” a song Lou Reed wrote for The Velvet Underground.
After a long set, Haines said goodnight and sang what she called a lullaby — a sweet and moving acoustic version of “Gimme Sympathy.” The audience gathered their jackets in the dim blue light and headed sleepily for the doors — a pleasant end to an enjoyable show.
A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, Sept. 25 print edition. Margaret Eby is a contributing writer. Email her at [email protected].
