The Rapture at The Metro | Photos + live review

The Rapture has had a tumultuous existence. Infighting, family issues and label headaches have probably stunted the trajectory that this band could have had. Watching their intimate show at the Metro last night, I couldn't help but wonder if frontman Luke Jenner—or lost member Matt Safer—lies in bed at night asking himself if the Rapture might have been LCD Soundsystem had things worked out differently.

If Jenner does, he didn't show it last night. His band might be playing smaller venues and lack in the confidence and stage presence of its bigger labelmate, but a brilliant new record, In the Grace of Your Love, and a string of past hits were more than enough to work from, and the near capacity crowd seemed to agree.

The punk-funk pioneers put on a no-frills show, stepping onto the stage with little more than a hello. The bulk of their set seemed to lean heavily on past material, wasting no time getting into hits like "Get Yourself Into It" and "House of Jealous Lovers"—which I thought was surely going to be saved for the encore. Modest but still energetic, they left no breathing room between songs. One would bleed right into the next amid slick guitar riffs, sax solos and heavy cowbell. The only breaks they took were for Jenner to dive into the crowd—which he seemed to revel in, doing so three or four times.

When they walked off stage having only played "Miss You" and "Never Die Again" from the new record, I was fully prepared to complain about cashing in on hits and failing to ready new songs for the road. But an encore of "Sail Away" and the anthemic "How Deep is Your Love" shut me up quickly. If it took all of their ups and downs for the Rapture to turn out sounding this good, then these boys should rest assured that things worked out for the best in the end.