If you wandered into the Aragon Ballroom off the streets Friday night, you’d think you entered a garage jam session instead of a packed concert venue.
Metric, alongside Broken Social Scene and Stars, brought the All The Feelings Tour to Chicago and it proved to be something special. During every set, members of every band came out to jam with whoever was on stage, showcasing a lifelong friendship amongst everybody throughout the night.
Stars joined Broken Social Scene on stage early into their set. (Damien Dennis/TPM)
Up first was Stars. The Canadian indie pop-rock band played a bright, colorful set filled with brass, wind and various stringed instruments. Members of Stars made numerous appearances throughout the night, as we’ll see.
Stars set the tone, as the packed ballroom sang along and danced all set.
Broken Social Scene took over the middle act with much of the same fanfare but more energy and all the friends. Over the years, Broken Social Scene has seen numerous members come and go — and many of the past members were on the bill!
Stars came out to join in on the brass instruments, provide vocals and seemingly just jam with Broken Social Scene. And to add to that, Emily Haines, the Metric vocalist, came out to sing a bit in a band she’s also listed as in inactive member for.
By time Broken Social Scene left the stage, it felt like a true celebration of friendship and camaraderie amongst veteran musicians.
It felt like a proper rock show when Metric took the stage. Dark, moody lighting set the sene for the Canadian indie rock band as they opened with “Victim of Luck” before breaking into “Oh Please” and “Youth Without Youth.”
Eventually, however, that theme of friendship snuck back in. During the later half of the set, Broken Social Scene joined Metric on stage for “Synthetica.” Guitarist Sam Goldberg Jr. stayed on stage with Emily and her band as he helped on “Gold Gun Girls.”
Metric ended their set on “Black Sheep” after the encore fake out. Metric was clearly the proper headliner on Friday, but the theme out friendship carried throughout the night.
