“It’s never too early to get fucked up,” Emily Haines shouted to the masses who crammed into the 9:30 Club last night for Canadian rockers, Metric. With doors opening at 5:30 and a 7:30 headliner, it was indeed early, and yet even with this pre-Pogues timeslot, a fuller crowd than many bands draw at the later shows. DC proved to our indie friends from the north that no matter what time it is, if you play it, they will come. With the rest of her brief conversation with the audience, Haines in her very tight, and very short white skirt took a time out from her hopping, dancing and jamming out on the synth to express her thanks with a sincere, “DC, a place we can rely on.” And with the talking out of the way, they returned to their hyperactive musical state as if to say…let’s get on with the show, eh?

Upon first listen of her signature vocals, from the balcony at least, Haine’s words seemed slightly muted by the overbearing volume of the speakers that hung from above. Fortunately this didn’t continue past the first few songs, and we were able to hear her in full force for the rest of the set. But no matter where you stood physically, two things stood out visually throughout the night as the band’s driving force of energy: Jimmy Shaw (guitar), and Josh Winstead (bass). Playing at opposite sides of the stage and each sporting a red power tie, they worked the crowd, most notably with Jimmy’s solo in “On A Slow Night.”

Haines was all over the place with her dancing, but the majority of her time was spent down front, in the faces of her adoring fans. Cell phones snapped pictures as she posed for shots, reached out to grab their hands, and sang to them, pointing and smiling. Between her gestures and bouts of frenzied footwork, the very animated front woman slipped back and forth from the keyboard to her tambourine. During “Handshakes” she leaned over the keys and played with an intensity that could only be topped by her hard edged performance of “Patriarch On A Vespa,” where her mic was knocked forward into the crowd.

Metric’s more widely-known single, “Combat Baby,” off of their 2003 release Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, wrapped up the first part of the set, followed by Jimmy and Josh aggressively and humorously leaping into each other as they left the stage. A string of white lights along the speakers replaced two large spot lights for the encore, where the band slowed things down with “Empty.” The final song of the night, was an extended, (perhaps a bit too long) version of the upbeat dance track, “Dead Disco,” that reached its peak early on and then faded into a strange mix of synth sounds that left us confused and wondering where in fact the “Ending Starts.”

Set List:

1) Live It Out
2) Glass Ceiling
3) Wet Blanket
4) Too Little, Too Late
5) Poster of A Girl
6) Patriarch On A Vespa
7) Ending Starts
8) Monster Hospital
9) Handshakes
10) The Police And The Private
11) On A Slow Night
12) Hustle Rose
13) Combat Baby

Encore
1) Empty
2) Dead Disco