Lights on the Horizon Shines Bright in London Ontario

The, “Lights on the Horizon” tour, rolled into a rainy Thursday night in London, Ontario, on March 24th. Budweiser Gardens would be the host for this highly anticipated tour, co-headlined by Metric and Death Cab for Cutie. Never having seen either band before, I was excitedly anticipating the night ahead.

The show kicked off with Death Cab for Cutie hitting the stage with a song that made its tour debut. “Passenger Seat”, started off with a dim lit piano being played by lead singer, Ben, singing this calm tune to the awaiting crowd. After that it was time for the rockers from Washington State to hit the stage and ignite the beginning of the night.

London’s set list included a couple more tour debuts, amongst it, ” Title Track”, and, ” Everybody’s a Ceiling”.  After an hour long set it was time for the west coast boys to turn the show over. To catch up on more information about Death Cab for Cutie check them out online at www.deathcabforcutie.com.

The crowd that had filled up London Budweiser Gardens was ready to catch the main event, Canadian synth-pop, alternative rockers, Metric. Ready to start the night, with Good Friday on the horizon, it was time for the co-headliner to hit the stage.

Metric opened the show with a Lou Reed cover of , “Real Good Time Together”, which seemed to get the crowd into the groove of what the night was going to bring. Their set included their big powerful synth rock hits like, “Help I’m Alive”, ” Gold Gun Girls”, and, ” Youth without Youth”.

One of the highlights of the night included, “Dreams so Real”, where some dreams of local youth choir singers were brought to reality as they were escorted onto the stage to sing backing vocals to the large crowd filling Budweiser Gardens. At the end of the song, Emily Haines pulled one of the choir singers, front and center, to share her microphone to wrap up the ending of the song.

Acapella versions of, “Combat Baby”, and, “Gimme Sympathy”, reminded us how powerful Emily’s vocals can be.  The show wrapped up with an electrifying version of, “Breathing Underwater “.

If you missed this high energy-packed show at Budweiser Gardens, you really missed out on a great night of alternative rock and roll, something that doesn’t roll through our area all that often. For more information on the, “Light On The Horizon” tour, head over to Metric’s website at, www.ilovemetric.com.

Bill Woodcock / @BillWoodcock

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