Wow! I’m impressed with these guys from the off. A gentle females vocal set upon a rolling rhythm and a metered bass line. It’s nice and gentle but with a rising tempo of expectation. Then they explode into noise.
The crowd are brought into the mix as Emily Hanes utilises a tambourine to orchestrate a clap along, it works terrifically as the large crowd are here to see the Canadian outfit for the first time and so are lost in 'Combat Baby' and 'Dead Disco' as Emily ups the pace on hey keyboard while throwing her tousled head around.
The tunes flow - 'Empty', 'Handshakes', 'Police And The Private', 'Poster Of A Girl' and the songs are very enjoyable. There’s talk of Emily going solo and the members of Broken Social Scene going off to concentrate on that project but personally I hope this lot stay together.
They’re bound to be bigger next summer, she lets herself down rather badly though, asking if the Zimbabwe flag is a communist flag or an anti war flag and having a rant about Letterman and his chat show! What do they teach them in Canada?
I’m wondering if she realises which country she’s in, the stagehands signal she’s over running and she gets stroppy before unleashing 'Monster Hospital'. All in all a fine performance but I do get the feeling she’s high maintenance and hell to work with. Perhaps going solo is for the best.
Reading Festival 
more pages about Metric
