Metric at Metro Theatre Sept 30

Who? Metric

Where? Metro Theatre

When? Sept 30, 2009

Opening bands? Sherlock's Daughter and Mission Control

In their sold-out Sydney show as a part of their debut Australian tour, Metric gave a brilliant performance that really amazed the crowd. Starting with Twilight Galaxy, Metric gave us a couple of songs from the Fantasies album. They also performed few older songs such as Dead Disco, Empty, Monster Hospital, and also Live It Out for the encore. Emily Haines was full of energy, despite the fact that she's been touring the country for a while for the Parklife festivals. Haines was very interactive with the audience, frequently invited the audience to sing along and to clap and join in her songs. She also interacted with the bouncers who were guarding the stage, and the best part was right after the encore she went off stage and started shaking hands with people in the front row. Yes, you're right. That means I shook hands with Emily Haines. Yes. Yes. Yes. I can die peacefully now. She's a goddess. Haines shook hands with the audience to show her gratitude for bringing Metric to Australia. After all, it was a sold-out show. And it was an over 18 show, meaning that there's a chance that there are other underage fans discounted. The band was amazing. The dynamic between the members were unbelievable and you kept feeling like a part of the family. It's the kind of show that you really love for its intimate atmosphere. At the end of the show, the crowd was left amazed and wanting more. I'm sure Metric will come back after such a great experience. It was amazing.



The show was opened by bands Sherlock's Daughter (SD) and Mission Control (MC). The alternative indie band SD showed a great dynamic of the bands in their performance, and managed to bring the crowd to life with their songs. Their Song for Old People was one of the highlight of their performance, and you can see the video in their myspace page. I saw a great potential in this band actually, and would like to see them perform again. The other band MC, however, was not very impressive. They seemed very amateurish, with the band members looking like they just woke up from slumber and walked right onto the stage. The vocalist did not manage to transfer his energy to the audience, as I could see people chuckling and shaking their heads as he jumped up and down and started crashing onto the instruments. In my honest opinion, he looked like a boy with ADHD who forgot to take his pills in the morning. It was out of control. The music itself had potential, but I didn't really fancy the vocal that was too crisp for the songs.

The Resistance by Muse

Apologies for the lack of updates, been busy with work and been listening to lots of new music so I'll sure update the blog with new musicians that you need to check out :)

Anyway.. the most exciting news this year: THE RESISTANCE by MUSE is OUTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!

I know they're only officially released worldwide today, but I've gotten a copy earlier because I live in Australia :)

Songs from The Resistance have been played in many occasions by the media here in Australia, and I've actually heard the whole album days before it was released on Sept 11th. I must say that I am very impressed by media responses to this album. I should've expected it though, Muse is after all one of the greatest bands ever!

Anyway, we'll start by talking about the album. I got myself the CD+DVD package, and I'm glad to see that they've resorted to the paper package instead of the plastic. It's environmental-friendly, and I really enjoy the design. When you open the package, you find the CD enclosed on the left side and the DVD on the right, while the lyrics booklet is enclosed in the middle. I totally adore the layout of the package, but I might be biased as Muse is my favourite band ever. And Matt Bellamy is such a brilliant musician to have written and arrange all the music.

There are 11 songs in The Resistance, with three tracks dedicated to a series called Exogenesis - Symphony. This series is an obvious example of the band's brilliance. I'm proud to give this album four stars (out of five) due to the amazing details and intricacy of the overall sound. I'm glad to find that in this album, Muse is somewhat back to their older style. And by that I mean that in Black Holes and Revelations (2006), in a lot of the songs they resorted to a slightly more upbeat dance-y sound, while the older albums presented a more harsh rock sound.

The first track Uprising conveys the message of peace and rebellion, a theme that should be familiar to Muse fans. As obviously voiced in the lyrics "They will not force us, they will stop degrading us, they will not control us, we will be victorious" Muse tries to remind the young generation, the fans, to be aware of what's going on in the world. We are not to hide and obey the rules that are imposed to us just because they are rules; we are to analyse rules and improve them. The similar themes are also heard throughout the album, as we also heard in Resistance.

Muse has been repeatedly compared to Queen. And I think in the United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage) we can somewhat hear the resemblance, the quirkiness in the melody is somewhat similar to that of Queen. The song carries the message of the importance of unison. It reminds me of the empty promises by the world politicians, and I think Muse critisises the policies by the US government, probably more focused on its policy on Iraq and the false promises on bringing the peace to Iraq and eliminating terrorism. "And these wars they can't be won. Do you want them to go on and on and on. Why split these states when there can be only one".

Love and relationship are another theme that Muse. In Undisclosed Desires, one of my favourite tracks of the album, Matt sings a promise of love and security "I want to reconcile the violence in your heart, I want to recognise your beauty not just the mask, I want to exorcise the demons from your past, I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart". The track is more dancey and somewhat reminds me of Time is Running Out. I Belong to You (+Mon Coeur S'ouvre A Ta Voix) is another of my favourite, and it's also another love story. I might be biased though. "How much pain has cracked your soul? How much love would make you whole? You're my guiding lightning strike. I can't find the words to say, they're overdue. I travel half the world to say I belong to you" reminds me of my boyfriend who's indeed half way across the world. There's nothing else to ask for from this song. Strong piano chords with Matt's beautiful falsetto going up the scales and Matt singing French. Sigh. I'm in love. And in the DVD you can see how they layer this track, and you get to see the band members clapping and thumping their feet to put the sound into the track.

There's one word I'd use to describe Guiding Light: GRANDIOSE. I can already imagine watching them perform this live, and how this song will overwhelm the crowd and they fall into this unexplainable wave of emotions. It's like being hypnotised, it's like watching Muse perform Invincible (from the last album) where you feel the need to respect the beautiful music and sing in unison and you feel like a part of a big family. It's apparently about how Muse's concert relies on their light and laser play, and how the "guiding light" keeps them focused on performing

The next track Unnatural Selection is an obvious example that Muse is back to its older rock style, with brilliant riffs and beats. You can feel the vibe of Origin of Symmetry/Absolution back in this one track. Matt's falsetto gives me goosebumps, and it reminds me of why I fell in love with Muse the first time. The riff somewhat makes me think of older 90s metal/rock sound. MK Ultra that follows the track also gives us the older sound of Muse, with chaotic beats and intricate riffs.

The series Exogenesis - Symphony are a beatiful example of how classical music and symphonies heavily influenced the sound of Muse. It shows the versatility of the band, shifting back and forth from the classical rock sound to more alternative sound. Muse has always been very adventurous when it comes to experimenting with sounds, but they can never do wrong. Matt Bellamy is still the main player, with his falsetto accompanying the violin in the Overture, first song of the symphony series. Cross-Pollination gets more interesting as halfway through the music, the band reverts back to the rock sound but is still accompanied by the symphony. Redemption starts with slow and simple piano piece, the strings came into the song soon after, the drum then follows, with Matt's vocal soon came in to complete the sound. It's a perfect last song to end the series, and even to end the album.

The DVD features the process of which Muse did the recording and arrangement for The Resistance. It shows the symphony involved, and how the band members were fully involved in making this record. The details that they put in are the obvious reasons why the sound of Muse is consistent, why they might be called "predictable" by some reviews, but these are the reasons why Muse is a high-quality band, and not one of the songs in The Resistance can be said as a filler.

In summary, The Resistance is a great new album that represents the different sounds of Muse. It's like a bag of mixed candies, you never know what to expect! But you know they're going to be good. I really recommend you getting a copy! Please please please! And to their Australian fans, there's a rumour that they might come for a visit in Jan/Feb 2010. Whoop whoop!!

Little Birdy at Metro Theatre May 13.

Dont really feel like writing anything, but Little Birdy was awesome!

It was the second time i saw them, and they were even better than i remember!!

The Drones at Metro Theatre April 25 2009

Mike Noga smiled at me three times and I got a taste of Gareth Liddiard's vodka.

I'm officially in heaven, and The Drones is officially so underrated!

It was my first The Drones show, and i was more than excited to see them take over the stage at Metro Theatre, one of my favourite venues for its small intimate size. The show was opened by the Melbourne band Witch Hats, and to be honest I didn't expect them to be that good. My first thought when they came onto the stage was they looked really young, like high school young, but once they started they proved me wrong. They sounded mature, even though I personally think that the sound balance between the vocal against the band wasn't that great. The energy was great though, especially on the drums. The drummer who looked very english to me was enjoying himself a lot, and the guitars were blasting throughout. By the end of their performance, the drummer was drenched in sweat. What a great way to start the show.


The second opening was Kev Carmody, the indigenous singer/songwriter who is a Queenslander. Carmody had such persona, such warmth that makes the crowd loved him. He complimented the crowd for the great energy, giving credit to the beautiful weather Sydney has this weekend. He even made a joke about how odd it was the he was placed between Witch Hats and The Drones, being a 65 yo who was there on stage alone with a guitar. The highlight of his performance is of course the song From Little Things Big Things Grow, in which the audience was invited to sing along. I also loved the instrumental piece, and I salute Carmody for his great techniques and honest performance. It is a tough gig replacing Qui (who'd be more similar to the two bands) at the last moment, but i think it created a great balance for the atmosphere of the show.



When The Drones finally came out, I have to admit of how much of a "fangirl" I was, screaming and squealing at Liddiard. Fiona Kitschin looked so gorgeous in her black dress and she's just oh so pretty, while Dan Luscombe was just so into the performance I could see him pouring his heart into his every fingers on every strings. Soon the birthday boy Mike Noga caught my eyes by being the most interactive and warm member of the band.I swear to God he smiled back at me every time I smile at him, and he was so pleased when the crowd sang happy birthday to him. The energy of the band did not fade out until their last songs, and the dynamic between the members is unbelievable. Oh My and The Miller's Daughter were actually the best two songs for the night for me, but seriously, i won't try to review their songs too much because I haven't listened to them as much and I won't try and pretend to be their greatest fans who know all their songs and styles. For the encore, Liddiard and Noga came back and silenced the audience with their acoustic performance, Noga on the harmonica and Liddiard on the guitar. The show was closed with the great final performance of I Don't Ever Want to Change. And as the band was leaving the stage, Liddiard kicked his half-consumed vodka (which an audience earlier mistaken as a beer, teasing Liddiard to consume "real beers" instead and was replied "this is not beer, it's vodka. It's the REAL beer") onto the audience and splashed the front row. Trust me, it happened. I got splashed on the face and i got a taste of the vodka indeed. It was sweet.



Overall, I was satisfied to say that even though I was new to The Drones (and totally oblivious about the opening performers), it was a great show. I will surely listen to more of The Drones and I promise myself that I will be able to sing along to the songs the next time I catch them live. Definitely underrated, and definitely a must see. All pictures taken by meeeeeeeeeeeeee. UPDATE: I was asked by the writer of this article to contribute some piccies and here they are!