Despite recent mild temperatures, summer is still over three months away — but Peterborough Musicfest is offering a taste of what’s to come by announcing one of the musical acts that will be performing at the free-admission musical festival this summer.
On Tuesday (March 5), festival organizers revealed that Juno award-winning indie alt-rockers Metric will take to the stage in Del Crary Park in downtown Peterborough on Wednesday, July 17th.
The Toronto-based band is the first of many musical acts that will be scheduled during Musicfest’s 37th season, which will take place every Wednesday and Saturday night from June 29 to August 17. More performers and dates will be announced over the next few weeks along with a full line-up reveal in May.
Metric was founded by lead singer Emily Haines and guitarist James Shaw in Toronto in 1988 as the duo Mainstream. After releasing their first EP, they changed the band’s name to Metric and left Toronto for New York City, where they were eventually joined by drummer Joules Scott Key in 2000 and bassist Joshua Winstead in 2002.
In 2003, Metric released their first official studio album Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? That was followed by 2005’s Live It Out, which was nominated for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for Canadian Album of the Year and for the 2006 Juno Awards for Best Alternative Album.
Since then, the band has released seven more studio albums, including 2012’s Synthetic which won the 2013 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year. Their latest album is 2023’s Formentera II.
VIDEO: “Gold Guns Girls” – Metric (2010)
Metric’s synthesizer-rich sound has been described as indie and alternative rock with elements of new wave, post-punk revival, synthpop, and dance-rock. The band has performed at music festivals around the world, including Coachella, and has opened for The Rolling Stones, Imagine Dragons, Billy Talent, Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, and more.
Metric, who last performed in Peterborough in 2010 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre, has a local connection.
Lead singer Emily Haines, who also performs on synthesizers and other instruments, was raised in Fenelon Falls. Her brother Tim Haines, who is married to Monarch Ultra co-founder Carlotta James, operates local record store Blue Streak records in downtown Peterborough.
