Ottawa Metric / New Capital Music Hall Review

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Look two or three posts down for the Ottawa Citizen review...

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Edited March 6, 2006 by Guest
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[Davey Boy 2.0]

The New Capital Music Hall: I liked the feel of it right away

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'Let us honour this new night with the most rocking show in Canada," proclaimed Metric frontwoman Emily Haines on Friday night at the New Capital Music Hall. The sleek Canadian rocker was drawing public recognition to the fact that her band was headlining the newly renovated Ottawa club on its first night of operation.

A mere seven hours earlier, things in the York Street space didn't look anywhere near ready -- bars were yet to be built, lights had to be hung and there was no running water. Dazed-looking musicians and crew members wandered in and wondered if they were in the right place.

Somehow it all came together in time for Metric to give what may well have been the most rocking show in Canada that night. Dressed in a breezy dress, pink for a change instead of her usual black, rock-goddess Haines was the centre of a maelstorm of strobing lights and pulsing sound. In a white dress and ponytails, she repeated the process on Saturday.

Forget about high def and surround sound; this was the real thing. We were witnessing a band at the height of its abilities in an intimate venue. The way things are going for Metric, they're going to have to play an arena or festival next time they pass through Ottawa.

After many months on the road, the Toronto-based indie rockers have solidified their chops, playing with an arena-rock swagger befitting a band about to explode. Compressed into the steamy atmosphere of the new club, the power of the music transcended the location.

Who cared where it was happening? The only thing that mattered was that we were there to see Haines kick and elbow her way through songs like Monster Hospital, Patriarch on a Vespa, Combat Baby and Dead Disco, all the while singing with the cool, fragile shriek of a voicemail vixen gone bonkers. As always, she was a truly compelling performer.

Back down on earth, there was a collective sigh of relief. When the old Capital Music Hall on Rideau Street closed at the end of January, the owners' original plan was to renovate another of their nightclub businesses, the electronic-music club Surface, and reopen in a week. Soon the opening was bumped to March 1. As it became obvious they weren't going to make that deadline, the promoter moved the Philosopher Kings' March 1 concert to Barrymore's so workers could focus on getting shipshape for Metric.

When you think about it, there wasn't much choice. Metric is, arguably, Canada's hottest band of the moment. They opened for the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Gardens in January, recently appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and regularly sell out shows. With something like 1,200 tickets snapped up for the two dates in Ottawa, the club had to be ready -- there's no other live-music venue in town big enough to accommodate that many people at the last minute.

While I gasped in astonishment at the club's transformation, everyone else made themselves at home, laughing and chatting as they located washrooms and scouted out vantage points on each floor. Like the old Capital, the new place has a spacious main floor (with a clear, pole-free view) and horseshoe-shaped balcony on the second level. Washrooms are upstairs.

The cavernous old Capital, which was torn down a couple of weeks ago to make way for a condo project, had to be really packed to shake the awkward chill. It took people months to appreciate it; I liked the feel of this place right away. Although smaller than the old location, it's still going to be considered Ottawa's biggest live-music club as its capacity outnumbers Barrymore's by about 200.

The owners (York Street kingpins David Crawford, Steve Monuk and Todd Brown) say it's going to be even better in a month, when they hold the grand opening. There are plans to build a permanent stage that's a bit higher and put the finishing touches on the decor.

Friday was a night to explore the premises, starting with the front entrance, which is not, you will discover, on York Street. It's on the George Street side of the building, through the parking lot. Another York Street bar, the Thirsty Scholar, is on the ground floor of the same building, and will serve as a waiting area for overflow lineups.

With two flights of stairs to climb, access to the new Capital was a tricky proposition for one fan using a wheelchair Friday. Fortunately, there was plenty of staff muscle to provide a lift service.

A couple of other drawbacks to the new space are the dead areas where you can't see from the balcony, and the post-show crush, when 600 people each night jammed themselves in the stairwell. Some had lined up for the coat check or merchandise booth; others were just trying to get out.

Near the end of Friday's concert, Haines wrote herself into Ottawa music-scene history as the first rock star to dive into the crowd at the new club. But for the record, let's make it clear that Metric wasn't the first band to christen the establishment.

That designation goes to the first opening act, Holy F--k, who made a great impression with their trippy, instrumental material. The other opener was Islands, whose extended lineup and instrumentation -- plus the all-white stage outfits -- reminded me of a cross between Arcade Fire and Polyphonic Spree.

In all, it was a fantastic show in an awesome venue. The sound was amazing (props to the production crew for pulling it off), the atmosphere positive and best of all, there's a future -- we are assured this building won't be torn down in a year.

Here's looking forward to many more shows in a club that, if managed properly, has the potential to be one of the best in the country.

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thank, but the link doesn't work for me.

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thanks davey!

sounds like a pretty positive take on the new venue.

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