Trent Students “Pump it Up” for Live Metric Show
University awarded prize concert for mobilizing student body
Trent University students danced, sang and crowd-surfed to 3 of today’s hottest bands at the Memorial Centre last night. The show, headlined by Canadian supergroup, Metric, was awarded to the University after students generated the most Facebook traffic of any school in Central Canada.
“I think this says a lot about Trent,” said a relieved looking Kai Kramer, vice president of the Trent Central Student Association (TSCA). “It has been a lot of work by a lot of people, but it has really paid off.”
To win the contest, Trent competed against other universities by voting on a TD Canada Trust public event page on Facebook. They won by accumulating the highest votes as a percentage of students.
“I think it shows the importance of unity and solidarity at Trent,” explained Kramer. “Students worked hard to get the word around and showed a united effort – and they were rewarded for it. I’m pretty proud right now.”
The show kicked off with Toronto-based Keys N Krates, an electronica-tinged hip hop band that blends groundbreaking turntable sampling with live playing to produce a truly unique sound. With the first few beats, the crowd rushed the stage. Arms thrust high, bodies grooving to the beat, they took to the floor. By the halfway point of the set, the first of the crowd-surfing began.
OK Go, continued where Keys N Krates left off. The L.A. band, best known for their YouTube superhit “Here it Goes Again,” proved that they were more than merely an internet phenomenon by stringing together a polished set that included material from all three of their studio albums.
Bringing the house lights up, front man Damian Kulash addressed the crowd: “Are there any hippies here tonight?” he asked. “I heard that there were hippies at this school.” The crowd roared in affirmation. “Good, then. Let’s be hippies tonight.”
With that, he made his way into the crowd to perform a solo acoustic version of “Last Leaf.”
It was Metric, however, that truly brought the house down.
Led by pop powerhouse, Emily Haines, Metric dug deep into their repertoire of hits to keep the crowd on its feet. Haines, who spent her childhood in Peterborough, made sure that Trent was rewarded for their contest win by continually upping the energy level for the entire set. Radio staples such as “Poster of Girl,” “Help I’m Alive,” and “Monster Hospital,” were featured alongside newer material from Metric’s latest album, Fantasies.
Students were grateful for the free show.
“I think it’s one of the biggest things to happen for Trent in a long time,” exclaimed Jacqueline Huard. “I mean, this is big. It is great recognition for a small school.”
“I look around and see all of my friends here,” she added. “And they’re all having a great time. It is pretty cool.”
“It’s incredible to have earned it as a community,” said friend and fellow student, Anne Corkery. “We’re all having a great time and it is all because we came together to win this.”
“Trent deserved this,” she concluded. “It was a great reward.”
And by all accounts, the reward was a rocking one.