Life as a nine-to-fiver was met with ambivalence. The current economic climate seems to have catapulted us into an environment where even thinking about how we dislike our job will result in being lambasted by some random passerby, “reminding” us that we should be thankful we are working at all, and how many others would love to be in our position.

So fine, I’m grateful that a job landed in my lap, absolutely. Yet this does not prevent me from feeling a wee bit of disappointment about missing the once in a lifetime (hopefully) opportunity to be unemployed for the summer, and be allowed to place blame for said unemployment on environmental factors that imply no personal fault whatsoever. Aware that these sentiments make me sound (and begin to feel) like an unappreciative trixie, I decided to mix things up. Concerts, an amazing form of escapism, particularly for non-musicians with musical fantasies, seemed like an ideal extracurricular activity to avoid the overly routinized existence I was afraid of entering.

The question of which show to attend was a no-brainer once I got word of Metric at the legendary Metro in Chicago. My girl-crush on Emily Haines emerged while exploring some of the many bands that would be making their way through Chicago this summer. My rotation would often revert back to “Knives Don’t Have Your Back.” Despite its somber and gloomy tone, the undeniable sweetness of her voice made it seem somewhat less grim. Now back with her band Metric on an album tour much more conducive to rocking, I was psyched. Similar to the title of their fourth studio album release, Fantasies, the high-energy performance enabled the audience to willfully forget Monday morning was mere hours away. The sold-out crowd seemed rocked to choice performances of “Gold Guns Girls” and “Sick Muse.” A greatly welcomed encore including “Monster House” and “Live it Out” interspersed with personal sentiments by Haines, including her affinity for Kim Gordon who she believes represents a true rock star wrapped up a great…start to the work week.

Grow Up and Blow Away by Metric