Hotel staff across the country should have their fingers crossed that The Metros don’t stroll into their lobby, as this London based five-piece are doing their best to live out a stereotypical rock and roll lifestyle littered with equipment smashing, booze and reckless rebellion.Last October, these teenage upstarts were kicked off The Coral’s tour for increasingly raucous behaviour which apparently didn’t go down that well with the Liverpudlians, and they have also received a nationwide ban from Holiday Inns. Oh dear.
This sort of behaviour is slightly more tolerable when the band in question are fairly big news, but there are sod all people at the Bodgea Social when I arrive shortly before the beginning of the set. If the numbers were any less then I dare say it would have been one of those Social gigs where you can get in by heading through the bar and going up the stairs at the back.
However this doesn’t deter the lads who swagger around the stage with cocky confidence, safe in the knowledge that other people their age are probably stacking shelves in Tesco. They don’t look the sort of kids who would smash up a hotel room – two members are wearing Hawaiian shirts and the drummer sports a vest – but they still convey a blasé ‘we don’t give a s**t’ attitude.
Lead singer Sauly Adamczewski in particular enjoys the occasion, getting progressively drunk on bottles of Becks and pints which are handed to him mid-set, and repeatedly scratching his head as if he can’t believe his luck. Their arrogance means they are the sort of band who many people would like to see fail, simply to wipe the smug looks of their faces, but tonight fans of schadenfreude would have been left disappointed as the Metros’ performance was astonishingly good.
They are an exceptionally tight knit unit, and the guitars are particularly good, catchy and delightfully infectious. People start dancing at the front and suddenly the place isn’t empty but full of happy gig goers – just where did all this lot come from?
In many ways the band are a southern equivalent of the Arctic Monkeys, with Adamczewski proudly showcasing his cockney vocals in the same way Alex Turner does with his Yorkshire twang. The songs too are of similar themes and full of wry observations on growing up and the world we live in. Where the Arctics had their taxis to Hillsborough, the Metros have their train from Victoria; effectively doing for London what Turner & co did for Sheffield.
So come out the cupboard you boys and girls because the The Metros have well and truly arrived. They are cocky yes, but there is more than enough evidence in their music to back this up. Loud, brash and in your face – the Metros coming at you faster than an underground train.
Review: Dan Palmer
Images: Adrian Pancucci
