Emily Haines, You Are Not A Preacher!

My arrival in Oxford was not as smooth as I hoped it to be. (NOTE TO SELF: before going to a new city, make sure you write down hostel address.) After criss-crossing Oxford with my 40 pound pack trying to find the hostel with the yellow door--for some reason people didn't respond to my queries of, "Do you know where the hostel with the yellow door is?"--I found the Central Backpackers Hostel. After settling in, I asked around the joint and figured out how to get to Zodiac, the venue where Metric was playing.

A short cab ride, box office check-in, and staircase climb later; I was engulfed by sweaty bodies, cigarette smoke, and the eerie punk-pop sounds of Emily Haines and company, who were closing out their opening number. As I found out from the gentleman beside me that it was in fact the end of their first song, the initial notes of "Poster of A Girl" rang out. Immediately the audience threw itself into a frenetic boogie, one that lasted through the heavy riffs of “Patriarch On A Vespa” and most of the catchy space-pop of “Police and the Private,” which Metric nodded to a close with a longwinded psyched-out transition—burdened with distorted, swirly guitars, ballistic percussion, and far-out synthesizer work. However, those lost during this segue were quickly recaptured by the “Bawitaba”—listen again if you haven’t noticed it--introduction of “Monster Hospital.” Backed by the powerful guitar work of Metric co-founder James Shaw and the driving rhythm of bassist Josh Winstead and drummer Joules Scott-Key, the beautiful Haines appeared commanding throughout the song, especially as the crowd joined her for the last chorus, a quasi-a capella chant of “I fought the war/ I fought the war, but the war won.”

Unfortunately for Haines and Metric, these early triumphs didn't last. Beginning with a jaded introduction--centered around vague accusations about “stealing music”--to first set closer “Rock Me Now,” a rising, spoken word piece from an early LP, Haines’ behavior for the last part of the act was, to use a bit of local jargon, wankerish. Besides the rousing first verse and chorus of second set—or was it encore—opener “Dead Disco”, from the band’s debut, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, and an invigorating instrumental solo while the front woman went offstage, the second half of the performance was an embarrassing Emily Haines rant. Now, I will say, that once in a while the audience may warrant a hit or two of advice, but not from someone as strung out as Haines looked last night. And certainly not advice as circuitous and indecipherable as her diatribe was. After one oblique lecture about ringtones and downloads, she thanked the audience for “letting me get that off my chest.” *Crickets*. Perhaps the common opinion was expressed best by a local standing next to me. Towards the end of the nonsense, after hearing Haines repeatedly chant something along the lines of, “Just tell me what you want,” he looked at his friend and stated, “More songs.” Cheers, mate. Next time Emily, don’t get so caught up in saying, “f*ck corporate rock,” which is what she gracefully exclaimed as she walked off stage, just play some songs. Please.

Let's hope for everyone's sake that this behavior doesn't characterize Metric's tour with Bloc Party through the UK.