Metric @ Roseland Theater

Emily Haines is a rockstar, dividing her time between banging on her keyboard and dancing, prancing and just dominating the stage. Honestly, I have no idea why people still pack stadiums to see bag of bones baby boomer bands, when musicians like Metric clearly have the swagger and songs to put on a show that should satisfy anyone's thirst for rock and roll. Roseland Theater was packed and the crowd was clearly excited. I was standing next to two young teenagers and their parents on one side and some obviously longtime Metric fans on the other side. Their mix of dance-inducing beats, squaling guitar, and Haines' alternating cool and fierce vocals apparently is resonating with a broad audience. People started cheering during the quiet instrumental interludes, and just exploded with the first few notes of every single song. It was nuts. It's great to see band you love being embraced and then stepping up and delivering the fantastic performance the fans were hoping for. As much as I love and romanticize hearing bands annihilate the local dive bar, I can't help being caught up with the crowd when a band is on top. It definitely feels like Metric is in their prime.