It’s June and not quite officially summer yet, but there’s nothing like music concerts in the summer.

I got tickets for a concert at one of my favourite outdoor stages in Toronto, Budweiser Stage, for one of my favourite bands (an old favourite, in that it’s always just been there, I have the essentials playlist and play it when I’m in that kinda mood…). I brought my brother who discovered them before I did, and the sweet guy that he is, he burned a CD of their music for us. It made for a perfect birthday present for him. We had a really nice dinner pre-show at the Roses Social in Hotel X, which is across the street. An extremely long street, Lakeshore Blvd, along that way is more like an Indy race route, but we felt safety in numbers there were hundreds of us crossing.

So the band –

METRIC!!! On their anniversary tour of their Fantasies album from 2009. I saw them when they first debuted this album in the summer 2010, at the same venue outdoors by the lake. It was the Molson Ampitheatre back then. 15 years, quite a few changes since then including the sponsorship, but it stll beer. And wow, didn’t realize my T shirt was that old!!

But what hasn’t changed? The performance, it was electric.

The opener was Sam Roberts, also a favourite of my brother’s – initially. it was to be Bloc Party, but Metric cancelled the US portion of their tour (wonder why), but kept the Canadian dates, added a few more and added phenomenal Sam Roberts Band. A Canadian self-professed hoser band. A treat for me, I had not seen them live before – turns out my brother has seen them twice!

Metric did not disappoint – so many have tried to emulate their sound but there’s nothing like the original. And how can Emily Haines be in her 50s – Ser-i-ous-ly (a play on the lyric from Gimme Sympathy …). Sparkly shorts on a cool girl. A Canadian cool girl.

Both acts have stood the test of time – the energy and the music. Fabulous 50s, these rockers!

Next up, the Beaches (I won tickets!) and Simple Minds ... and that’s just June.

Let the music play!