Metric, Live in Manila

I’m not going to lie—this is going to be a post of mostly Emily Haines. I think you all understand.

Anyway, I wasn’t supposed to watch Metric in Manila. I had already purchased tickets for Phoenix and The National, and coming from Tegan and Sara, it just didn’t feel like a smart move to get Metric tickets on top of all of that. I joined a Facebook contest by Whitefield when I saw it on my feed a couple of times, on the off chance that I would actually win, and forgot all about it. Whitefield is a menswear brand, by the way. I was doing a phoner interview on the day of the concert itself, when I got news that I won.

Funnily enough, I had a lunch with Karen scheduled that day at SM Aura, too. Isn’t that kind of serendipitous? Anyway, thank you Whitefield! :) I’m so happy that I got to go, it was such a fun night.

Flying Ipis opened for Metric, and Jason (Caballa of Pedicab) sessioned for them, on guitar.

I’m not a big fan of Flying Ipis, but they are pretty good. This is the first time I have seen them play live. Sarie caught one of the free shirts they threw into the crowd.

I first listened to Metric in high school. The first song I ever scrobbled by them was “Grow Up and Blow Away.” My most played track is “Calculation Theme” but the song I associate with them the most is “Combat Baby.” I haven’t followed their career in the past few years, so I knew I wasn’t going to be able to recognize a lot of the songs, since they don’t seem to play old songs. I think that’s why I also decided against buying a ticket.

Still, Metric was such a pleasure to watch. They’re just so good, and they absolutely know how to have a good time. I couldn’t take my eyes away off of Emily Haines, but then there’d be something magical happening with the guitar or the bass or the drums, and my attention would veer away from her and there’s just a surge of appreciation for such great musicians.

“I still believe that music can save your soul,” Emily Haines says in between songs. I probably don’t have the wording right and exact, but you know what I mean. And in that set, I truly believe that they tried to show how that could possibly be true.

There was an after party close to the venue where people who purchased floor tickets could go. We had floor tickets, but since they were complementary, we didn’t get a pass to the after party.

Despite the disappointment, I was so glad to hear all the stories of people who got to share a few minutes with these awesome individuals. :) It was such a great night, capped off with a beautiful acoustic rendition of “Gimme Sympathy,” accompanied by the singing crowd and a few semi-crowd surfs by Emily Haines.