In a spell in which Metric has opened for the Rolling Stones and guested on Conan, guitarist Jimmy Shaw seems most surprised by getting play on a local radio station.

"Our relationship with the Edge started out really rocky - basically [singer] Emily [Haines] dissing them live on stage three times in a row, and then them dissing Emily live on the air, and having her walk in with a bouquet of roses and explain herself," he says. "And then all of the sudden we're, like, the Edge 102 poster band ... It seems like we may have been the first ones to stand up against that station in particular. They actually listened, and they actually changed a little bit."

Or maybe Monster Hospital, their ubiquitous single, was just too catchy to resist. In any event, the local heroes hit the Kool Haus this weekend for a pair of sold-out shows riding a massive high, and ready to hit the road for another North American tour.

The success of Live It Out, the album released last September, does come with its challenges - notably keeping longtime fans on board. If seeing the band in heavy rotation on MuchMusic hasn't been enough to freak out the diehards, an uncharacteristically restrained Conan performance certainly was.

"We caught major flack almost instantly from our fans, like 'What are you guys, The Strokes all of the sudden?' " Shaw notes. "I love all of our Metric fans ... but at the same time we're still trying to get more fans. In sound check that day, we came to the conclusion - let's play this really chill. It's not a Metric show, we're not asking people in the audience to lose their inhibitions and dance. We're just asking them to listen to the song."

Then there's the challenge of ensuring the rest of the band doesn't get stuck in the charismatic Haines's shadow. While accepting audiences need a frontperson to relate to, the band tries to stick together as much as possible.

"We try never to send Emily into a photoshoot by herself," Shaw says. "We've had experiences where the three of us have actually been airbrushed out of photographs. But when that happens, we throw major fits about it."