Mystik Spiral Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Tonight I saw The Shins at The Fillmore. I have decided that I'm really not too fond of The Fillmore. First of all, parking is a fucking headache unless you arrive a while before the show, and I hate arriving before the show. Second, there are few good seats (or, rather, places to stand) in the auditorium, so having any sort of view (especially if you are 5'3" like me) is impossible unless you, again, arrive early. Ugh. So, it was cold out tonight, I was dreading parking, I was dreading the Shins crowd, and by the time I got inside and ducked my way through the floor crowd to about 2/3 of the way to the stage, I was pretty crabby. Not only did parking suck, not only did I have no chance at actually seeing the stage, but I had thought the doors were at 8 and the show was at 9. Nope... doors at 7 and show at 8. Viva Voce opened and I really wanted to see them. As it was I caught their last song (We Do Not Fuck Around) which was fantastic. The good news is they are coming back to Denver next month. W00t! I'll have to catch that one for sure. Anita from Viva Voce also played with The Shins for their entire set. Add all this to the facts that (1) I've heard The Shins don't put on the best live show (tonight was my first); and (2) I was decidedly underwhelmed by their SNL performance last month. Safe to say I was planning a negative review before the show even began. Therefore you can imagine my surprise when The Shins came out and played an energetic, animated, and extraordinarily fun 90+ minute set. I decided to take setlist notes between my fleeting and sporadic glances at the band on stage: Sleeping Lessons Australia Phantom Limb Kissing The Lipless Mine's Not A High Horse Girl Inform Me Girl On The Wing New Slang Saint Simon (we la la'd the shit out of that motherfucker!) %Girl Sailor Turn A Square Gone For Good A Comet Appears Turn On Me Know Your Onion! One By One All Day Caring Is Creepy ---encore--- Somone I Care About (Modern Lovers cover) Pressed In A Book So Says I % = This is the precise moment that a smile appeared on my face that, at last check, is still there. Girl Sailor, Turn A Square, & Gone For Good are most certainly 3 of my favorite Shins songs. Oddly enough, it was also the precise moment that a part appeared in the crowd and I at least had a fabulous view of James for (most of) the remainder of the show. The only instance where the sound wasn't amazing was for Mine's Not A High Horse. The bass was really really heavy and I thought James was out of tune, but it was hard just to hear him, so it may have been the bassiness messing with my hearing... New Slang was also a tad bass heavy, and they played it at what seems to me a verrrrrry slow pace. It was the same way they played it on SNL, and I have to say I'm not a fan. Not that it's a rocking song to begin with, but I swear they're playing it more slowly these days. They extended One By One All Day with a lengthy jam that probably would have been more fun if I had a better view of the stage. The show was not nearly as Wincing-heavy as I thought it would be, though they played everything that I really wanted to hear from the new album. I've read a lot of less-than-favorable reviews about Wincing The Night Away, but I've spent an awful lot of time with it since it leaked back in, oh... October? And I have to say that it's at least as good as Oh, Inverted World or Chutes Too Narrow. Sure, there are a couple of clunkers on there (though Sea Legs, arguably the most disappointing song on the album, has really grown on me). And I'll say it now: Australia, Phantom Limb, Turn On Me & Girl Sailor will be among the most satisfying indie pop songs of 2007. EDIT - I found out the name of the cover song they played for the encore. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
muller Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Nice review Bridget - looks like a pretty good setlist to me. I really want to see them when they play London at the end of this month but im soooo skint at the moment. And for what its worth I really like the new way they play New Slang. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mystik Spiral Posted February 16, 2007 Author Share Posted February 16, 2007 yeah, it was definitely a good setlist. still can't get into that slow version of new slang though... i'm telling you, march here in denver is absolutely insane. there are shows nearly every other day that i want to see.... so I feel your pain about being "skint" (i love you brits). but for what it's worth, the show was a lot of fun. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 cool review! thanks. They disappointed me when they played in brooklyn this past summer, but I love them so much that I am going to give them another shot when they come back. Those songs are just too good to pass up. The new album is hit or miss for me, but when it hits, it is so great. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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