Shins roll-call

Any idea if James' consolidating of the band (as I imagine happened) has already taken place, or will this be the final go round for Marty and Jesse? I know there are some, let's say, mild fans of the band on this board, but I, for one, am going to enjoy this show. Saw them in 05, was great. Haven't seen the most recent album live, am definitely looking forward to it.

Five songs I want to hear most:

When I Goose-Step
Gone for Good
Girl, Inform Me
Australia
Kissing the Lipless

I'm going tomorrow night in Richmond. Would love to see your top, except for maybe substituting Girl On The Wing in place of Gone For Good.

best live band ever

Thousand wrote:
Any idea if James' consolidating of the band (as I imagine happened) has already taken place, or will this be the final go round for Marty and Jesse?

I'm pretty sure they're already gone, according to that Pitchfork article a few days ago.

fatskippy wrote:
best live band ever

Uh, what?

The Shins are totally hit and miss as a live band. I'm giving them another shot with this new lineup, we'll see how it works. Some nights they're awesome, other nights they're…well, let's just say that I wasn't impressed.

Top 5 songs:
1) Pink Bullets
2) Saint Simon
3) Caring is Creepy
4) Split Needles (alternate version)
5) Girl Inform Me

nkotb wrote:

fatskippy wrote:
best live band ever

Uh, what?

They are the best live band ever and I'm going to scream like a 14 year old girl if they play New Slang.  Shins, if you're reading this, please please please play New Slang!

Oh man, I don't know. Isn't that the equivalent of asking Jim Morrison to come down from heaven and perform the entire first Doors LP, and then get Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Keith Moon to do an encore with him?

Hmmm. Something tells me you'll be OK.

According to Pitchfork, Marty and Jesse have already been jettisoned, and yes, James consolidated the band:

When we talked to Shins frontman James Mercer earlier this month, he confirmed that both keyboardist Marty Crandall and drummer Jesse Sandoval were out of the band. Here's how Mercer explained the lineup change: "I started to have production ideas that I wanted to do that basically required some other people. It's mainly about that. It's an aesthetic decision."

We don't know what Crandall's up to these days, but The Portland Mercury's End Hits blog has posted a hint about how Sandoval's spending his time: He's opening up a taco cart in Portland, Oregon! (And yes, the Mercury people already made the obligatory "these tacos will change your life" joke.) A publicist has confirmed that the report is true.

back to the roll-call…..I'm in.

me too!

Cant wait.  ;D

i found tickets.  i'll be there with my roommate.

i'm interested to see how they sound compared to their DAR show.  i liked them then but am pumped to see them in a smaller venue.

i'm looking forward to delta spirit as openers.  i've seen them as openers 3 times now and i like them more and more.

Looking forward to the Delta Spirit as well. Heard good things.

The Shins at DAR just doesn't sound right. This band is totally made for small venues. Saw them at Congress Theatre in Chicago in 05, about as small as it gets for big indie. EPIC.

Just got back. Really good set. No Kissing The Lipless, but other than that everything you'd expect to hear was played. Very heavy on Oh, Inverted World and the latest LP, as you might imagine.

The "new" band sounds really tight and it was a good show, but I couldn't help thinking that if they'd turn the instruments down about 25% and James sang like he did on the album instead of yelling half the songs, it'd be much better. But oh well.

Delta Spirit were OK, but nothing out-of-this-world. Kind of reminded me of Cold War Kids at times.

Julian, wrote:
Delta Spirit were OK, but nothing out-of-this-world. Kind of reminded me of Cold War Kids at times.

ha – the first time i saw delta spirit, they opened for tokyo police club who opened for cold war kids.  this was just over two years ago at 930.  at the end of CWK's set, just about everyone and their manager came back on stage to sing the last CWK song.  that was pretty cool.

Pretty awesome to hear Weird Divide. Sweet song, always wondered why they never played it live in the past. And god, Sleeping Lessons is epic. But it was all gravy after they played Gone for Good.

The new Shins get five-stars from me. How can you honestly not like the Shins?

BTW, thanks to whoever recommended Delta Spirit. I will definitely be checking them out again in the future. Great shit.

Well that the was the tightest and most polished show I've seen the Shins perform. It's funny, they start of kind of slow, but then they settle into it and I would say that by "Sea Legs" they really hit their stride. The rest of the show was great. OK, the cover of The Beta Band's "Dry the Rain" absolutely blew me away, and I know this will sound weird but that was the best moment of the night, though "New Slang" was sublime and the version of "Those to Come" was pretty spectacular too. Always happy to hear "Saint Simon", and "Weird Divide" was a nice bonus. "One by One All Day" is terrific in concert, reminds me of when I saw them play it at the Hollywood Bowl w/Belle and Sebastian. Great song. The Delta Spirit know how to play, they're not really my cup of tea but they're a great opening band. Very cool show. The new Shins lineup is a definite improvement and I can see them doing great things on a new record.

Yeah, Delta Spirit were great. Also my first time hearing them.
"Dry the Rain" cover was awesome.

delta spirit were pretty money.  this is the third time i've seen them and they sound better and better each time.  it seems like everyone in the band is some kind of percussionist and they're good at moving people around.  "people, turn around" sounded excellent.

i enjoyed the shins but they didn't grab me as much as i thought they would.  they sounded better than when i saw them at DAR two years ago.  they were really tight, very polished, and i loved hearing older songs (and covers!).  "sleeping lessons" was excellent.but they didn't have some of the energy i expected.  however, this might have been me:
1. i was on the rail in the balcony.  while it offers a great view, it's somewhat detaching from the rest of the club. i've thought this before and last night reinforced that.
2. i wore earplugs.  while i could still hear everything just fine, it's also somewhat detaching.  however, i value my hearing.
3. every time i looked at the band, i was completely distracted by how ridiculously tall the bassist is. 

anyway, i had a good time.  the new songs sound pretty good and i'm looking forward to a new cd. 

yohansen5b wrote:
delta spirit were pretty money.  this is the third time i've seen them and they sound better and better each time.  it seems like everyone in the band is some kind of percussionist and they're good at moving people around.  "people, turn around" sounded excellent.

i enjoyed the shins but they didn't grab me as much as i thought they would.  they sounded better than when i saw them at DAR two years ago.  they were really tight, very polished, and i loved hearing older songs (and covers!).  "sleeping lessons" was excellent.but they didn't have some of the energy i expected.  however, this might have been me:
1. i was on the rail in the balcony.  while it offers a great view, it's somewhat detaching from the rest of the club. i've thought this before and last night reinforced that.
2. i wore earplugs.  while i could still hear everything just fine, it's also somewhat detaching.  however, i value my hearing.
3. every time i looked at the band, i was completely distracted by how ridiculously tall the bassist is. 

anyway, i had a good time.  the new songs sound pretty good and i'm looking forward to a new cd. 

I agree with the Shins being very tight and polished and rocking, but just not grabbing me.  Just didn't seem to have much passion.  I'm sure they were giving it their all, it was pretty obvious.. it just didn't project at all.  Hard to knock a show in which they didn't do a thing wrong, so I'm trying to avoid that, but something with the energy just wasn't there until sleeping lessons and then it was too late.