Metric

Rocktober may have officially started back on the the 8th with the Tu Fawning, Suckers, and Menomena show, and continued the next week with the Union Line, Ruby Suns, and Local Natives show, but tonight it got underway in earnest with Metric at The Tabernacle.

The Tabernacle is a former Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta that's been converted to a 2600-seat concert hall. It was first built in 1911 and temporarily converted to a House of Blues during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The venue is noted for its twin balconies and high ceiling.

Metric has long been a favorite band of mine. Singer and bandleader Emily Haines is the daughter of the jazz poet and restless spiritual seeker Paul Haines, lyricist for Carla Bley's remarkable Elevator Over the Hill. Born in New Delhi, India, she was raised in Canada in a house rich with music and experimental art. Her father would often make cassettes of rare and eclectic music for his daughter to listen to and her early influences included Carla Bley, Robert Wyatt, and later, PJ Harvey.

Here they are back in 2003:

And in 2005:

Here they are in 2009:

Finally, here they are performaning in KCRW's Santa Monica studio in 2009, with the glamour turned down a little bit:

Tonight's show was loud and awesome. Emily Haines has fully embraced her status as a full-blown rock star and seemed confident and in control as she danced and pranced and sang in front of the band. They closed with a great acoustic cover of Combat Baby, just her and guitarist James Shaw on stage with an acoustic guitar, and soon they had the entire audience singing along ("No one wants to fight me like you do"). It was a great close to a great set.