Performance Date: Saturday, May 16th
Opening Act: Delta Spirit
My wife scored tickets for the Shins after her sister informed her they were coming to town. The show was sold out so we had to get tickets via StubHub, but thankfully we didn’t pay much more than street value, which was refreshing.
[Delta Spirit]
I don’t know much about Delta Spirit. I had read an article about them in Rolling Stone which proclaimed them the next big thing and I promptly ignored it. The lead singer came out wearing a fedora and I immediately wanted to punch him in the face. This isn’t the 90’s and you aren’t in the Squirrel Nut Zippers. My initial reaction was not changed by the opening song – the singer was just growling and mumbling.
Most of the set was spent with the singer screaming at the top of his lungs and the bass player flailing around the stage. All kidding aside, the band sounded good, but the singer needed to stop with that screaming and moaning shit. Overall, not a pleasant experience. I think these dudes will get better, but I won’t be sitting around waiting for it to happen.
If they sounded like this during the concert, it wouldn’t have been that bad. But the screaming…
[The Shins]
The Shins sounded great. The band was tight, the sound levels didn’t make my head bleed, the lighting was interesting and enhanced the show BUT….
The set list was not put together well. They opted to play several heady, long, slow paced songs that killed the mood in the crowd. Their faster paced songs were far and few between and by that point I was done. I applaud the band for introducing new material and attempting to set a mood, it was just the mood sucked.
The Shins are still a great band, the sounded great, but they need someone paying attention to the pace of their concerts and how the songs translate to a live audience.