The Telus Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler BC has drawn high profile acts for many years and this year was no exception. So on Friday morning, I made my weekly pilgrimage up the Sea to Sky to Whistler to take in the last weekend of the festival and interview the Toronto based headliners, Metric.
Entering their "green" room at the Pan Pacific I immediately encountered Jimmy, Joules and Josh hanging out. In the few minutes we chatted pre-interview it became clear that their good nature is intact and unaltered by their growing success. This is not, however, some great stroke of luck. Metric's DIY approach to distribution and manufacturing has amounted to a hand picked network of individuals they choose to work with. Their involvement at the ground level with their music, the business and, as a result, their fans, has surely contributed to their strong sense of self and commitment to keeping it real.
We discussed David Lynch's Inland Empire as a muse for Haines on her songwriting for Fantasies, their "campfire test" for Fantasies (if you can't play the song with just vocals and guitar or piano, it didn't make the cut) which led to the radio partnered acoustic portion of their tour. As we discussed each person's potential for self realization and power for change, Haines said "People think they are looking at walls when they are looking at doors". BAM.
Opening their set a brief sound check melding seamlessly into Twilight Galaxy, Metric then launched into the inadvertent yet irrepressible single Help I'm Alive. They played to a colourful crowd of skiers and boarders, with more riding down into skiers plaza throughout the performance. Viewers crammed the edges of patios protecting their beer with one hand, shading the sun with the other for a glimpse of the irresistible Emily Haines.
Haines' delivered clear vocals with heart that soared above the quieted crowd, floating through the village and up the mountains. It wouldn't be a Metric show with out Haines grabbing the tambourine, and shake it she did. Compared to their performance at Pemberton Music Festival, this show was lower energy. Haines didn't jump, stomp or head bang as much as I have seen in the past. However, conviction, focus and intensity replaced frenzy. That cohesive quality is where Fantasies diverges, for me, in their discography. It's likely that their "campfire test" contributed to the flow of the album in their efforts to create songs that are less complex in chord progressions allowing them to build the sonics over a strong, yet simple foundation. My single criticism is that Joules' rhythm levels could have been higher, but when you're playing an open air show, it's difficult. Their signature synths pushed the rhythm and kept the crowd moving through a killer set. More highlights include Sick Muse and, my personal favorite, Satellite Mind.
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