METRIC Metric’s Emily Haines remembers a time before iPads and smartphones, and she ponders what we’ve lost since consciousness went online to embrace a sea of distractions. Like its name, this four-piece makes music that is precise and measured. Building on a bed of moody electronic music that recalls post-Ultravox John Foxx and Low-era Bowie, Haines and guitarist/right-hand-man Jimmy Shaw craft big, hooky New Wave ravers with the shiny precision of The Cars and Blondie. Launched in 1998, Metric has gone on lengthy hiatuses more than once. During these breaks, Haines and Shaw have woodshedded with Canadian indie-rock supergroup Broken Social Scene, and their main band has benefitted from these sabbaticals. Soulful guitar and organic swagger have been added to Metric’s soaring choruses and pristine synths, adding gravitas to their slick New Wave perfection. Recently scoring David Cronenberg’s dystopian Cosmopolis, Metric proves that its medium is not its message. Beneath the brittle, sugary surface, Haines, Shaw and their cohorts ask how our brains have been rewired in the information age, and whether real and artificial experiences have become one. With Half Moon Run. $29. Sept. 17, 8 p.m. The Fillmore, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. 704-549-5555.

GARBAGE
Though Garbage had not made an album in seven years, its frontwoman Shirley Manson’s influence still reverberated through pop music, most notably in the sounds of bands like Metric and the fierce feminine posturings of artists like Lady Gaga. Garbage returned this year with Not Your Kind of People, which is certainly not its best recording to date. But it does signal a return to the stage for the alt-rock icons, meaning fans who’ve been scraping by on the diluted girl-rock power of Manson’s successors can get their first bump of her raw sexuality and stage presence post-Bush Administration. Garbage knows what the people want — some new tunes, yes, but also old favorites to sing along to at top volume — and the band delivers with all of the snarling charisma that made it one of the top acts of the late ’90s. Part of the 106.5 Weenie Roast with The Offspring, Flogging Molly, Coheed and Cambria and more. $20-$70. Sept. 16, 12 p.m. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, 707 Pavilion Blvd. 704-549-5555.

A SILENT FILM
Back when Echo and the Bunnymen seemed set to rule the world, passionate and wistful tunesmiths popped up like mushrooms all over the British isles. This indie-rock spawn ranges from the atmospheric Josef K to the anthemic U2. They, in turn, gave rise to the current crop of emotive Brits in love with the big hook — Keane, Coldplay, Editors and Snow Patrol. Emerging in 2005, A Silent Film had a way with sweeping drama and winsome vocals, but it wasn’t enough to cut them from the pack of pensive popsters. Then, like fabled pioneers Walt Whitman and Bob Dylan, A Silent Film discovered America. The band’s latest disc, Sand and Snow, was recorded in the Arizona desert, and it has the euphoric sweep and dramatic gait of a ride in the high country. Melodic and melodramatic, with loud guitars and bright keyboards, A Silent Film’s sonic template is a throwback to the big sound of Simple Minds. Romantic storytelling that suggests Bruce Springsteen’s The River by way of The Killers seal the deal. It all works because A Silent Film maintains a compelling tension between Jack Kerouac’s endless American highway and the band’s own, thoroughly British, misty mountain hop. With Dead Sara. $14.65. Sept. 15, 8 p.m. The Fillmore, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. 704-549-5555.

D’ANGELO If you were a middle-school girl around the year 2000, you probably remember D’Angelo like I do. He was the guy with the Adonis-like torso in the “Untitled (How Does It Feel?)” video — the one who made you have feelings you maybe weren’t quite ready for. Turns out that while my 14-year-old friends and I were marveling at the man’s obliques, he was busy being one of the best R&B artists of the ’90s and early ’00s. Known for long sabbaticals, he was M.I.A. for most of the aughts, with rumors and promises of his (still) forthcoming new record so frequent it might as well have been Chinese Democracy. Maybe he was just waiting for the right partner to hit the road with, and he found her in the queen of hip-hop soul, Mary J. Blige. Word on the street is that D’Angelo’s still got it in a big way, from his silky voice to his stage presence. It’s anyone’s guess how those abs have weathered the years, but his skills as a performer are certainly still intact. $38.75-$116.55. Sept. 15, 8 p.m. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, 707 Pavilion Blvd. 704-549-5555.

BRAD PAISLEY
The “funny song” is definitely a staple in pop country. So many of them, though, are one-liners stretched painful miles beyond the breaking point (see “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk”). So you can thank Brad Paisley for actually having a sense of humor. Because when he writes a funny tune, it’s fleshed-out and catchy: hookiness without hokiness. The music video for “Online” — which revolves around a fantastic performance by William Shatner — should be the first stop for anyone doubting Paisley’s songwriting ability or wit. This isn’t his only mode, as the mostly instrumental Play revealed, but it’s enough to set him head and shoulders above other, more melodramatic Nashville scene leaders. Hell, maybe in their time together this tour, Paisley can help steer young Scotty McCreery in a listenable direction (please). But I’ve been wrong many, many times before. With McCreery and The Band Perry. $30-$80. Sept. 14, 4:30 p.m. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, 707 Pavilion Blvd. 704-549-5555.