I think a tip-of-the-hat is in order to Popejoy Hall for helping The Shins sound so freaking great last night.Don’t get me wrong, I’m certain frequent touring and superb musicianship are big reasons for the group’s crystal-clear performance but the band’s show proves they’re at their best in a concert hall setting. A packed house of 16 to 30-somethings saw the band play a set including a ton of tracks from their latest release, Wincing the Night Away , a nice chunk from 2003’s Chutes Too Narrow and a few samplings from Oh Inverted World . It would have been nice to hear more from the latter but the song choices were not unexpected and The Shins didn’t half-ass any of their more popular tunes as some bands who’ve become sick of their own handiwork sometimes do. Beck’s performance last year at the Kiva Auditorium in which he elected to have puppets perform “Loser” is a nice example of this phenomenon.The Shins also had a spot-on cover of Pink Floyd’s “Breathe” on display during their encore. About the only drawback to my concert experience was a member of the audience in my general vicinity who didn’t see a whole lot on stage that wasn’t worth a very loud, always inappropriate, “Oooowww!” After close to an hour and a half set, the band promised to return soon and left to a standing ovation, even from the balcony crowd who stayed sitting through most of the show.
A Fitting Venue For A Fabulous Band
Popejoy Lends A Big Helping Hand To Shins’ Sound
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