Metric at Radio City Music Hall - Recap & Set List

Although a seated show at Radio City Music Hall isn't the ideal venue for seeing Metric, the band put on a great show nonetheless. (See the set list at bottom of article.) Of course, the viewpoints of fan and performer are different; and singer Emily Haines spoke of being able to play in the gorgeous, world-famous hall and how far it was from her small-town origins in Ontario, Canada.

Emily Haines and Metric Sunday at Radio City

The photos don't come close to doing justice to the show (yes, of lesser quality than usual), but they at least give an idea of what the show looked like. As always, Haines was like the Energizer Bunny: prancing from one end of the stage to the other, smacking her tambourine, shaking her head from side to side, and in general rarely standing still.

An already impressive show was made even more special when Haines called Lou Reed to the stage. He sang along on "The Wanderlust" (as he does on Metric's latest album, "Synthetica;" video from last night below), and added vocals on Metric's rendition of the Velvet Underground classic, "Pale Blue Eyes." Before bringing him on, Haines talked about how her older brother helped broaden her musical horizons by introducing her to acts such as Patti Smith and the Velvet Underground.

Haines at the keyboard.

Lou Reed joined Metric for two songs.

Metric at Radio City: Set list
(from Setlist.fm)

Artificial Nocturne 

Youth Without Youth
Speed the Collapse
Dreams So Real
Empty
Help I'm Alive
Synthetica
Clone
Breathing Underwater
Sick Muse
Dead Disco
Stadium Love 


Encore:
Black Sheep
Monster Hospital
The Wanderlust (with Lou Reed)
Pale Blue Eyes (The Velvet Underground cover, with Lou Reed)
Gold Guns Girls
Gimme Sympathy (acoustic; Emily and Jimmy only)

Concert Notes: Many Festivals this Weekend; Metric & More On Sale Friday

It's not even officially summer yet, but this weekend is shaping up to be one of the busiest of the year in the NYC area. There are no less than seven festivals going on (in addition to events at the usual concert venues), and tickets for a number of popular shows are going on sale soon. And there's news about a very popular concert on the West Coast...

NYC Popfest is on now with low ticket prices and hooks galore.

This Weekend's Festivals:
Maura Johnston of the Village Voice gives a brief synopsis of all seven festivals, but here the ones of interest to readers of this blog:

NYC Pop Fest (today through the 20th, Manhattan and Brooklyn) — An affordable pop explosion with advance tickets for many events only $10 (and one free show). Among the acts are 'Allo Darlin, Seapony, and Habibi.

The Bamboozle (May 18th to 20th, Asbury Park and environs) — Top acts include Skrillex, Incubus, and Mac Miller (18th), Foo Fighters and My Chemical Romance (19th), and Bon Jovi, The Gaslight Anthem, and Brand New (20th).

The Great Googa Mooga (May 19th and 20th, Prospect Park, Brooklyn) — This new festival celebrates food and live music (oddly, the food vendors were announced before the bands). Also odd: free tickets were given away but didn't last long, and the only other way to attend is to buy a VIP pass for $249.

Great Googa Mooga music acts include The Roots, Holy Ghost!, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and Bear Hands (19th) and Daryl Hall & John Oates, Fitz & the Tantrums, Lez Zeppelin, and Peelander-Z (20th).

Tickets for Metric (featuring Emily Haines, above) go on sale May 18th.

Concerts On Sale:

• Metric at Radio City Music Hall, Sept. 23rd, on sale: Friday, May 18th, 9 a.m.
• Leonard Cohen at Madison Square Garden, Dec. 18th, on sale: Friday, 12 Noon.
• Jackson Browne at the Beacon Theatre (with special guest Sara Watkins) Aug. 3rd, on sale: Friday, 11 a.m. [UPDATE: 2nd show added, Aug. 4th. Tickets for both here.]
• Neon Trees at Webster Hall,  July 10th, on sale: Friday, 12 Noon. 
• Brandi Carlile at Wellmont Theater (Montclair, NJ) with the Barr Brothers, July 31st, on sale: Friday, 12 Noon.
• Conor Oberst at Carnegie Hall, Nov. 21st, on sale: Monday, May 21st, 11 a.m.

Saturday Night Live Finale:
Yes, "SNL" always has a musical guest (and sometimes a musician host), but this week's season finale is packed to the gills with music and should be something worth tuning in to. (Besides being the season's last show, this is the May sweeps period for networks.)

Mick Jagger hosts, and the show has announced that the Foo Fighters, Jeff Beck, and Arcade Fire will also appear. I have no idea how they'll fit all this in to one-and-a-half hours without doing one of those annoying everyone-on-stage all-star jams, but I'll be checking it out.

Coachella 2013 Advance Sale:
No, it's not your imagination: tickets for the 2013 edition of the California festival are on sale now. Once again, Coachella will take place on two weekends (April 12th to 14th and 19th to 21st). From the Coachella home page:

"We are excited to announce Coachella 2013 will again be held over two consecutive weekends.

Advance passes go on sale beginning this Thursday, May 17th, 2012 10:00 am PDT through the following Thursday, May 24th, 2012 10:00 pm PDT. This advance sale will be the only opportunity to take advantage of the Coachella Purchase Plan. New for 2013, the price you see is what you pay — prices reflect all fees included. The general on sale will happen early next year."

Listen to Silversun Pickups' New Album & Metric's New Single

Silversun Pickups are streaming their forthcoming album "Neck of the Woods"(out May 8th) in full on MTV (see below), while Metric is releasing tidbits of its June 12th release, "Synthetica," out in drips and drabs. You can stream their new song "Youth without Youth" (with lyrics) below.

Silversun Pickups have some tour dates scheduled, but so far all the U.S. dates are on the west coast.

Get More: Silversun Pickups, MTV Shows

(If the stream doesn't work, listen at MTV's website here.)

As for Metric, Emily Haines and the guys fortunately have scheduled some summer dates across the U.S. and, happily for me, that includes New York (though the venue, Radio City Music Hall, is a puzzling choice for a rock band that will probably have fans standing up the entire show).

What's more, Metric's website has a bonus: "Instant Gratification! Every Concert Ticket Purchased for Metric's US Fall Tour Comes With Music: You'll get the digital download of first single 'Youth Without Youth' immediately, followed by the full SYNTHETICA album download on June 12."

See the Metric tour dates here, and visit Metric's website for details on the various special collections and other options for buying "Synthetica." Metric's tour begins at the Sasquatch festival in Washington state on May 26th, and comes to New York on Sunday, Sept. 23rd. Presale is now open to many shows to members of the Metric fan community (free registration).
 
Metric "Youth without Youth" official video with lyrics:

Weekend Recap: Corin Tucker Steps Out at Maxwell's; Muse Puts on a Rock Show at The Rock

This weekend I saw concerts by two very different acts in two settings that couldn't be further apart. But both shows were very enjoyable: The Corin Tucker Band at Maxwell's in Hoboken and Muse at Newark's Prudential Center (a.k.a. The Rock).


Tucker, part of the much-loved past (and probably future) trio Sleater-Kinney, is on her first tour with her own band and a new album, emerging after taking several years off to raise her children. She headlined an early CMJ showcase at Maxwell's, playing tunes from TCTB's new album "1,000 Years." It was a high-energy set, often capturing the power of S-K.

Corin Tucker and Sara Lund of The Corin Tucker Band at Maxwell's on Saturday. 

If you're a fan of Sleater-Kinney or Tucker, you'll want to catch The Corin Tucker Band at Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday, Oct. 26th. Opening are Darren Hanlon and Hungry Ghost, which features Sara Lund, the drummer in TCTB.

The British trio Muse played Newark Sunday night and put on an old-fashioned rock show spectacle, complete with lasers, individual stages that moved up and down, and giant confetti-filled "eyeball" balloons bouncing through the crowd.

From its opening song, Muse made it clear that Prudential Center fans were in for a rock spectacle.

Although Muse is a huge international success I hadn't heard many songs by them; I went to the show partly to check them out and partly to see the opener, Metric, one of my favorite bands of recent years. (Metric played only half an hour, but it was well worth showing up early to see them.)

Matthew Bellamy takes a turn at the piano.

Muse during its finale at the Prudential Center Sunday.

Special effects aside, Muse put on a very enjoyable show. They play catchy rockers that are often reminiscent of Radiohead, mixing elements of alt rock with prog rock and other genres. I've heard that Jimi Hendrix was an influence on guitarist and singer Matthew Bellamy, and at one point he even played  "The Star-Spangled Banner" solo on his guitar. Muse played songs from its latest album "The Resistance" as well as previous works.

Although most live music I see these days is in clubs or small- to medium-sized venues, it's fun to see an old-style extravagant arena-rock show, and Muse certainly delivered.

Celebrate Brooklyn Announces 2010 Free Concert Schedule

The two biggest free-concert series in New York, SummerStage and Celebrate Brooklyn, have both released their summer 2010 schedules. I listed some SummerStage highlights yesterday, and now here is the full Celebrate Brooklyn schedule of free concerts.

All shows are free, though attendees are encouraged to kick in a suggested donation of $3.00. Concerts are held at the Prospect Park bandshell. Weeknight shows begin at times from 7 - 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday shows usually begin at 3 or 4 p.m., though shows with many acts may start as early as 2 p.m. As always, see the complete 2010 Celebrate Brooklyn schedule for times, schedule changes, directions, and more.

Celebrate Brooklyn 2010 free concert schedule:
* Wed., June 9 -  Opening Night Gala - Norah Jones
* Sat., June 12 - Allen Toussaint, Davell Crawford
* Thurs., June 17 - Eugene Mirman & Pretty Good Friends
* Fri., June 18 - JG Thirlwell's Steroid Maximus, Dr. Lonnie Smith
* Sat., June 19 - Bitches Brew Revisited with Graham Haynes, James Blood Ulmer, DJ Logic and more
* Thurs., June 24 - Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club® featuring Omara Portuondo / Nelida Tirado
* Fri., June 25 - Kid Koala: Short Attention Span Theater vs. The Slew / Hess Is More
* Sat., June 26 - Texas Tornados, Red Clay Ramblers
* Thurs., July 1 - Zoom: Zvidance, Son Lux with Lottdance
* Fri., July 2 - Fab 5, Uzalo
* Thurs., July 8 - Itutu: Armitage Gone! Dance featuring Burkina Electric
* Fri., July 9 - Ozomatli, Fidel Nadal / Toy Selectah
* Sun., July 11 - OkayAfrica with The Roots, Talib Kweli and more
* Sat., July 17 - African Festival with Konono No. 1, Omar Pene, Super Diamono and more
Thurs., July 22 - The Chaplin Mutuals: Carl Davis / The Two Man Gentlemen Band (Music & Movies, with Brooklyn Philharmonic)
* Fri., July 23 Bomba Estereo, La Secta Allstar / Rita Indiana
* Sat., July 24 - Field of Dreams (Un Mundo Nuevo): Andres Levin & The Bruce High Quality Foundation
* Thurs., July 29 - MI21: Mother India 21st Century Remix with DJ Tigerstyle / Falu (Music & Movies)
* Fri., July 30 - The Swell Season, The Low Anthem
* Sat., July 31 - Sonic Youth, Grass Widow / Talk Normal
* Thurs., August 5 - Metric, Joan as Police Woman / Holly Miranda
* Fri., August 6 - House of Usher: Marco Benevento, White Magic (Music & Movies)
* Sat., August 7 - Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Budos Band and more
* Sun., August 8 - Brady Rymer, Elizabeth Mitchell (family concert)

Celebrate Brooklyn is also holding four benefit shows to raise funds for the program: Passion Pit, June 29 (sold out); Rufus Wainwright, July 20; The National, July 27 (sold out); and The Dead Weather, July 27.

New York Concerts on Sale: Muse & Metric; 311 & The Offspring; Goo Goo Dolls; Crosby, Stills, & Nash; Adam Lambert; More

Above: Muse (shown here playing at the 2006 Leeds Festival) is performing two gigs in the NYC area in October.

It's getting harder to keep up with all the new concert on-sale info coming out each week, but here goes. As always, there are many more on sale than I can list here. And of course, these listing reflect shows that I think are going to be in high demand (and thus sell out quickly), as well as shows I'm interested in seeing.

Most of the concerts go on sale Saturday, May 1st, but there were a few popular shows that had tickets available Friday, April 30th (links provided):

* She & Him - Terminal 5 - Tues., July 6
* Goo Goo Dolls - PNC Bank Arts Center - Tues., July 27
* Goo Goo Dolls - Nikon at Jones Beach Theater - Fri., July 30
* Muse with Metric - Nassau Coliseum - Sat., Oct. 23
* Muse with Metric - Prudential Center, Newark - Sun., Oct. 24

On Sale Saturday, May 1st:
* Band of Horses with Grizzly Bear and Karen Elson - Williamsburg Waterfront - Sun., June 20 (on sale: May 1, 11 a.m.)
* 311 and The Offspring with Pepper - Nikon at Jones Beach Theater - Fri., July 9 (on sale: May 1, 10 a.m.)
* 311 and The Offspring with Pepper - PNC Bank Arts Center - Sat., July 10 (on sale: May 1, 10 a.m.)
* Crosby, Stills, & Nash - PNC Bank Arts Center - Thurs., Aug. 19 (on sale: May 1, 10 a.m.)
* Crosby, Stills, & Nash - Nikon at Jones Beach Theater - Fri., Aug. 20 (on sale: May 1, 10 a.m.)
* Tim McGraw with special guests Lady Antebellum and Love and Theft - PNC Bank Arts Center - Thurs., July 15 (on sale: May 1, 10 a.m.)
* Adam Lambert with Orianthi and Allison Iraheta - Nokia Theatre Times Square - Nokia Theatre Times Square - Tues., June 22 (on sale: May 1, 10 a.m.)

Canadian Rockers Metric Perform Live on Radio (Free Download)

Canadian rock band Metric has been touring the U.S. recently to support its new album "Fantasies" and whether you've caught the band in concert or not you can now listen to a couple of these live sets.

Two weeks ago Metric performed an in-studio set for "Morning Becomes Eclectic," the acclaimed show on KCRW radio in Santa Monica, California. The set includes a couple of conversation breaks during which the band discusses "Fantasies" with host Nic Harcourt. Metric's set is archived on the KCRW Web site for you to watch or listen to.

On the opposite coast, Metric played at Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club last week and National Public Radio not only Webcast the show live, but has made the audio of the hour-and-20-minute set available for free online streaming or download. The set focuses on the new album, but also includes some old Metric favorites such as "Monster Hospital." Since I unfortunately missed Metric's sold-out show at New York's Terminal 5, I was glad to be able to download and listen to the D.C. concert.

Metric's tour continues over the summer with shows in England, Canada (including Ottawa and Halifax), and Australia.

More Metric:
* Metric MySpace page
* Metric Web site (www.ilovemetric.com)
* Metric on YouTube