Touring in support of their superb sophomore album, ‘Welcome to the North,’ Leeds, U.K.’s The Music wasted no time setting the tone with the wall-of-sound guitar crunch of ‘Take the Long Road and Walk It,’ the first single of their debut album.

Lead singer Robert Harvey strutted around stage, his Geddy Lee wail fighting at times to be heard above sole guitarist Adam Nutter’s massive Fender stacks. The energy didn’t flag during the anti-war anthem ‘Freedom Fighters,’ the breakneck ‘Cessation’ (buoyed by drummer Phil Jordan’s furious work on the sticks) and the blistering sing-along ‘I Need Love,’ with Nutter laying down a twangy Keith Richards’ riff under the chorus.

Although the energy on stage never wavered through tracks like the single, ‘Breakin’,’ the mellow ‘Human’ or the driving disco of ‘The People,’ the audience definitely thinned during The Music’s set. Was it because it was a Wednesday night show, rabid Kasabian fans, or perhaps because the sound mix never quite adjusted Nutter’s guitar to complement Harvey’s vocals? Those who stayed were a little puzzled when The Music closed with the slow-build jam of ‘Too High,’ and the lights came up without an encore. It was an odd end to the night.

Earlier in the night, Kasabian lived up their hype as one of the U.K.’s rising stars, with a six-song set that blew away the Metro crowd. Kasabian’s perfect sound mix highlighted lead singer Tom Meighan’s powerful pipes. The band pumped up the guitar on live versions of lo-fi tracks like ‘Reason is Treason’ and ‘Processed Beats,’ providing a stiff rhythm backbone under Meighan’s hip-hop vocals. Kasabian wowed the crowd with ‘Fifty Five,’ an older track not included on the band’s self-titled U.S. release, due out later in March. And the band’s anthemic single, ‘Club Foot,’ proved the perfect way to leave the crowd wanting more. And judging by the reaction to the short set, the crowd will be seeing more of Kasabian.

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