Miike Snow + Penguin Prison @ Metropolis

I have known and loved Miike Snow’s "Animal" since I heard it in 2009. I made what I still consider to be the slight mistake of not hearing the rest of his self-titled album to broaden my Miike music knowledge. I may have gotten too hung up on the single and its many remixes to have checked out the other songs. There was also the fear that the rest of the album may not be as brilliant as "Animal." When I got word Miike Snow was going to be performing at Metropolis in May, I was determined to be there one way or another. I saw it as the opportunity to correct the mistake made years ago of not hearing more Miike Snow. I was curious to witness the Montreal crowd's reaction to the song as well.

I arrived at Metropolis to catch opening act Penguin Prison perform. I have a little knowledge of the group name from seeing it on either blogs or charts. Of the few songs they performed, "Don’t Fuck with My Money" got the most reaction from the audience and inspired many to take a trip to the merchandise table afterwards. I had the pleasure of meeting the band’s lead singer, Chris, and got to speak to him for a brief instant. He told me another Penguin Prison album is in the works.

During the near 30 minutes of wait until Miike Snow took the stage, a small group of spectators gravitated towards me. After explaining the audio cassette logo on my t-shirt was for CJLO and no other university radio station, they expressed to me that they were anxious to see and hear Miike Snow. One of the pack seemed more Miike-minded than the others and I saw him as a source of information if the opportunity arose.

Miike Snow began performing around 9:15pm to a warmly receptive crowd. "Sylvia" had the crowd singing along for the first time since the show began. A little later, the crowd response to "Pretender" was on par with Snow closing the show rather than having started it. There was mention of a song called "Black & Blue" which again had the crowd roaring afterwards.

An hour into the show, the band stepped off of the stage and the crowd carried on like they were asking for an encore. Admittedly, I was getting anxious because they had not performed "Animal" until that point. After performing another two or three songs that I naturally did not know, the band broke into a surprisingly sped-up version of my song. The crowd response was unanimous. We were all there for "Animal" and, judging by the band’s performance, they must have known that was the case and relished the moment.

Although the show had run for a little over an hour, "Animal" was in fact the show’s finale. To have been at Metropolis to see and hear the song performed was one of my best concert experiences of 2012. My little knowledge of Miike Snow’s music was its own hindrance for me having a better time that night. I owe it  to myself to get familiar with the two albums released so far so that my next Miike Snow concert experience will be all the more heightened.

-DJ Solespin hosts The Suite Delight every Saturday night from 8-10pm