It was a gloomy, rainy day in Columbus, Ohio on May 18, 2010. But in the Newport Music Hall, the energy was flowing, the fog machine was fogging, and Metric was somewhere in the back preparing.

A few minutes after 8:00, the lights dimmed and Brooklyn’s Bear in Heaven walked on stage with a swagger before taking control of their instruments and launching into “Beast in Peace.” It didn’t take long before I realized he was using a whole lot of auto-tune and that the real backbone of the band was the drummer. I could feel the beats in my chest and as much as it pains me to admit it, the pre-recorded electronic loops made me want to move.

But by the time Bear in Heaven finished their set, I was ready for Metric to come on stage and melt my brain. And 15 minutes later, they did just that.

Dozens of blue lights illuminated the stage as the three men of Metric appeared. Then Emily Haines followed, strode right up to her keyboards and got to work. “Twilight Galaxy” started off the set and while it is one of the more mellow songs from Fantasies, they amp it up for live performances. Just when it sounded like it was over and it was almost silent and totally dark on stage, huge white lights flashed on and off and everyone went crazy.

After a few more songs from Fantasies, the careful plucking of “Empty” started and I was sure that I was going to pass out from joy. Not ten feet away from me was Emily Haines shaking her head back and forth, doing her signature shoulder shake and sounding like a goddess.

Fantasies is an ideal album to base a set around. It’s fast and upbeat and no one wants it to end. But luckily, Metric knows that their fans like the old stuff too. So, when the familiar wonky guitar chords of “Dead Disco” met our ears, it was on. Everyone was jumping and yelling and dancing. Looking around at the crowd when Emily sang “Tits out, pants down,” I realized that everyone might secretly (or not so secretly) love that line.

When “Monster Hospital” was played, the three girls beside me grabbed each others’ hands, jumped up and down and screamed "Oh my God, YES!" But then, two of the guys were walking off stage and for a moment, the audience experienced outrage at the prospect of the show already being over.

But Emily came back out and said, “instead of us leaving the stage and you guys yelling for us and us coming back to play like you know we will, how ‘bout we just play some music? Is that okay?” while James Shaw (Metric’s guitarist) grabbed an acoustic guitar and stood next to her.

An acoustic version of “Combat Baby?” Surely I was dreaming! But I wasn’t. There she was, crooning the words and inviting us to sing along with her. This is what makes concerts amazing – when a band acknowledges that people have made connections to their music and that more often than not, there’s that one song that everyone just loves.

Pausing before the final “How I miss your ranting / do you miss my all time lows?” Emily thanked us and told us she had had an awesome time before finishing the song and bowing with the band.

Here comes the one letdown of the evening: they didn’t play “Stadium Love” which I can say from experience is the best song from their current Fantasies-based set. People waited around, chanting “Metric! Metric!” and clapping and for a while, we thought we might get it. It took a good five or ten minutes before anyone started tearing down the stage and we realized, with great sadness, that we would not be getting “Stadium Love.”

But I’m willing to overlook that and say that the show was brilliant, the crowd wasn’t annoying, and Emily Haines solidified her place as one of my favorite women in music.