Show Review: Refused at Metropolis

Review & Photographs by Marie Claire Denis

It would be an understatement to say that fans of Refused waited a long time for this show.  The sold out Metropolis and the screaming audience was just a small indication that the night was going to be intense.

The show started with a black drape hiding the stage that revealed the name of the band printed on it. When the time came for the show to start the drape dropped and the crowd went crazy.

You could not tell, during their set, that it had been around 15 years since Refused broke up. That band had a great energy onstage and they almost convinced us that they were a young/new punk-hardcore band. Dennis Lyxzén, the lead singer, is a super charismatic entertainer. He spent their set dancing and jumping and also used that time to interact with their fans. He began by apologizing for taking 20 years to come to Canada. He then mentioned that he was glad the band broke up before they released any bad albums and that he wanted them to be remembered as a band who had good songs back in the day.. I also need to give props to the guitarist whose craziness and showmanship really entertained everyone.

With that kind of hardcore music comes hardcore fans that decided to do some crowd surfing and a lot of pushing on the (dance floor?) The most intense moment was when their most popular song “New Noise” started during the encore. You were able to see people running down the stairs to join other fans on the floor to thrash with everyone.

The band ended the show by wishing Happy Birthday to the guitarist of the opening band OFF! They gave a final bow to the ecstatic crowd that wished they could have had more than just an hour with an iconic punk band.

Click below to view the rest of the album:

http://www.confrontmagazine.com/2012/07/refused-at-metropolis-21-07-12/