Show Review: The xx at Metropolis

Review & Photographs by Marie Claire Denis

It’s at a sold out Metropolis that the British band The xx  finally returned to Montreal. Fans anxiously awaited the bands newest material from their album Coexist.

The show started with the band playing their new single “Angels”. I was able to see the levels of excitement in the crowd and, even without the new record out yet, people were ecstatic to finally get a taste of the new music.  The crowd was in for a treat because the trio did six new songs in preparation for the CD release on September 18th.

What made the show really amazing was the mood that this music manages to create. You just want to close your eyes and sway your body to the sound  of Romy Madley- Croft and Oliver Sims’ soft voices and forget everything else. That seems to have been the case for a great number of people in attendance. The lighting was really bright and colorful and mostly in the background so the band members were just silhouettes most of the time. As the show went on, the lighting became more and more intense and began moving a lot which was a neat feature to get to watch.

The crowd was surprisingly really loud between each song but the minute the band started playing the crowd grew quieter, as if to enjoy every second of the live music. One thing I did notice was that the band didn’t interact with the crowd as much as expected and kept the breaks in between songs to a minimal.

Before performing the last song of the night, they told the crowd how Montreal is one of their favorite cities which of course made the crowd go nuts.  As the show came to an end and the band took their final bow,  I really felt like I just went into a music and lighting therapy.

The xx have already announced a date in Quebec city in October, a few weeks after the release of Coexist. We’re crossing our fingers that a Montreal date will be added as well.

Check out the rest of the photos from the show:

http://www.confrontmagazine.com/2012/07/the-xx-at-metropolis-29-07-12/