“You happy? It’s really a trip putting this set list together, as you can imagine, seven records, right? The past, the future… You know? So we kinda want your help at this point; this is the time traveling section of this set… We’re going backwards because we can’t go forward… So here’s the dilemma and here’s the choice we want you to make… Do we go back old world and do “Dead Disco” right? That whole thing, right? Or do we go Fantasies… butterflies, optimism, and do “Give Me Sympathy”? It’s tricky, it’s tricky… So let’s vote…” Emily Haines of Metric, giving the audience a chance to vote for the next song late in their set at the Hollywood Palladium on Wednesday night. Going by the audience reaction, it was pretty close, but Emily heard a larger reaction for “Give Me Sympathy”. However, once they finished that fan favorite song, she said “fuck it” and they played “Dead Disco” as well. It was really a fantastic evening of music with Metric and Zoé taking their co-headlining tour across the U.S., along with special guest July Talk supporting. Going by that set list, Metric went in deep with their latest album, Art of Doubt (one of my favorite albums of 2018), while Zoé celebrated their Grammy win for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Music Album for Aztlán. The massive tour is running through May, with some festival appearances to follow. It will definitely go down as one of my favorite shows of 2019.

Who: Metric
Who: Zoé
Supporting: July Talk
Venue: Hollywood Palladium
Where: Hollywood, California
Promoter: Live Nation
When: March 6, 2019
Seating: (photo pass)

NOTE: “The tour has also partnered with PLUS1, with one dollar from every ticket going to support GRID Alternatives and their work in making renewable energy technology and job training accessible to underserved communities. For more information, go to www.gridalternatives.org and www.plus1.org.”

I’ve been working on a project in Burbank all year, so this was the first concert I’ve had a chance to attend in 2019 (and also why I’ve picked up this tour in Southern California instead of my normal Northern California).

This wasn’t my first show at Hollywood Palladium, but it was my first show there doing photography, and I loved it. The Live Nation staff were awesome and it was a real pleasure shooting at this historic venue.

July Talk

Members:

Leah Fay (vocals)
Peter Dreimanis (vocals)
Josh Warburton (bass)
Ian Docherty (guitar)
Danny Miles (drums)

July Talk is a Canadian group (like Metric) that was founded in Toronto in 2012. This was my first time seeing them and hearing their music, and I really enjoyed their set.

July Talk is one of those bands that has found success in touring and playing live, and I can understand why having seen it myself now.

They’ve released two albums to date, 2012’s self-titled album and Touch in 2016.

Set List:

Summer Dress
Guns + Ammunition
Pay for It
Beck + Call
The News
Pretender
Picturing Love
Push + Pull

Below are some photos of July Talk performing on stage (scroll downward and photos will begin to appear – click any image to open a virtual lightroom with higher resolution versions of each photo):

Zoé

Members:

León Larregui (vocals)
Sergio Acosta (lead guitar)
Jesús Báez (keyboards)
Angel Mosqueda (bass)
Beto Cabrera (drums)

Zoé was founded in 1994 in Mexico City. Interestingly, initial influences included The Beatles, 90s Britpop, and Grunge.

Early on, they found an audience via a self-published demo, concerts that they organized and leveraging the power of the Internet in general.

Over the years, they have published six albums and has had tremendous success. After winning three Latin Grammy Awards, in 2019 they won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album for Aztlán.

This was my first exposure to the band as well as seeing them live, and I came away super impressed. They have a throwback rock star look but bring the goods with their performance and music. I’ve picked up their studio recordings and since checked that out and I can understand why there are so popular and critically acclaimed. Also, touring with Metric seems like a wise choice as both bands seemed to bring out their own contingent of fans, yet both seemed into the whole show.

Set List:

No Hay Mal Due dure
Últimos Sías
10 A.M.
Azul
Fin de Semana
Poli
Temor y Temblor
Hielo
Renacer
Via Latchea
Oropel
Labios Rotos
No Me Destruyas
Soñé
Love

Below are some photos of Zoé performing on stage (scroll downward and photos will begin to appear – click any image to open a virtual lightroom with higher resolution versions of each photo):

Metric

Members:

Emily Haines (vocals, synthesizer, piano, guitar, tambourine)
James Shaw (guitar, synthesizer, backing vocals)
Joshua Winstead (bass, synthesizer, backing vocals)
Joules Scott-Key (drums, percussion)

Metric began as a duo of Emily Haines and James Shaw in Toronto two decades ago, though their first studio album didn’t debut until 2003.

I didn’t find them until their fourth release in 2009, Fantasies. That album and 2012’s Synthentica have always been my favorites, though I absolutely fell in love with their latest, last year’s Art of Doubt. If I had to pick my favorite Metric album now, it would actually be Art of Doubt, which kind of shocks me. I can’t think of another band I’ve followed for so long in which their latest album is my favorite. So that says a lot of me about the band. The new songs are amazing, and it’s actually been my go to album in 2019, I’ve listed to it dozens and dozens of times in the past few months.

I was really curious to see how much of the new album would be showcased in this latest tour, and I was happy to see quite a bit of new material in their set.

Of the 18 songs, 8 were from Art of Doubt, 5 from Fantasies, 3 from Synthetica, and 1 each from Pagans in Vegas and Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?.

Set List:

Love You Back (Art of Doubt)
Synthetica (Synthetica)
Risk (Art of Doubt)
Dressed to Suppress (Art of Doubt)
Breathing Underwater (Synthetica)
Art of Doubt (Art of Doubt)
Twilight Galaxy (Fantasies)
No Lights on the Horizon (Art of Doubt)
Artificial Nocturne (Synthetica)
Seven Rules (Art of Doubt)
Cascades (Pagans in Vegas)
Black Sheep (Fantasies)
Gimme Sympathy (Fantasies)
Dead Disco (Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?)
Gold Guns Girls (Fantasies)

Encore:

Dark Saturday (Art of Doubt)
Now or Never Now (Art of Doubt)
Help I’m Alive (Fantasies)

The one older song I would have loved to have heard is “Youth Without Youth” from Synthetica, and the one song off the new album I was hoping to hear is “Die Happy”.

But overall, I was very pleased with the show giving so much love and attention to the new songs, which were the highlights for me (with “Dressed to Suppress” and “Dark Saturday” being the highlights of the whole concert for me).

Metric has always impressed me with their live shows, and for me, this was their best yet (though I’ll always hold a special place in my heart for their show in which their equipment didn’t show up and they did it camp fire style acoustic).

The sound was phenomenal, and they are just so good at translating their music to live shows.

Even after 20 years, Metric still have something to say, their latest is fresh yet timeless, and I really hope that they follow up with new material on the same path that brought us Art of Doubt.

Below are some photos of Metric performing on stage (scroll downward and photos will begin to appear – click any image to open a virtual lightroom with higher resolution versions of each photo):

Jason DeBord