Metric: Live at Metropolis
Emily Haines ?ghts the heat for the good of synth-rock in this concert ?lm from the Canadian quartet with ’80s tendencies. She’s a formidable lead singer and plunking keyboardist who doesn’t mince around in her silvery high heels. In front of the packed Montreal club, her hair is sweaty and her legs go herky-jerky as her voice moves from steady and sweet to a Brandon Flowers-esque wobble and then a self-mocking “sha la la la luh” on anti-establishment songs like “Handshakes” (“Buy this car to drive to work / Drive to work to pay for this car”). Thankfully, there are few crowd shots and no tour-bus montages in this polished ?lm, which e?ectively documents a typical, high-energy Metric show, zooming in on Jimmy Shaw’s chugging, growling guitar and Josh Winstead’s New Wave bass. Dedicated fans will appreciate this fairly no-frills and accurate approach. For newcomers, Live at Metropolis is a good Metric primer, free of inside jokes, boring banter or punk pretensions, and featuring three fairly slick videos.