The Shins @ The Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR – 5/7/09
SDM would like to thank our good friend’s Peter and Sara for contributing this concert review. We hope they keep them coming.
Be on the lookout…
The Shins are back! Two years after Wincing the Night Away, The Shins are tuning up for a new tour and are laying the ground work for a new album. Living in Portland helped us get a chance to see the early tour and catch some new songs. Since The Shins currently call Portland “home”, we had the rare opportunity to choose from 2 performances at the Crystal Ballroom.
Read the rest of the interview and grab a couple of MP3’s after the jump…
Okay, enough bragging, let’s talk about the show. It was our first time seeing The Shins, and now we wonder what took us so long to see one of their concerts. The Shins played close to 20 songs (kind of lost count) including their popular songs “Caring is Creepy”, “New Slang” and “Phantom Limb”. Their set was a good mix from their albums, including over half of Wincing the Night Away. But they also treated the crowed to two new songs, “Double Bubble” and “Fool of a Martyr”. These songs were a bit more “up tempo” from their past work, but still sounds like The Shins. For an added treat, The Shins performed covers of Neil Young’s “Helpless” and The Beach Boys’ “Girl Don’t Tell Me”. Front man James Mercer even joked that their A&R guy, Danger Mouse, and his wife all suggested they do The Beach Boys cover.
The $35 admission was a bit steep in our opinion, but we soon learned we got our moneys’ worth. And apparently lots of other people agreed because The Shins sold out both nights. The opening act, Delta Spirit, set a great tone for the night. Delta Spirit has a great sound and even better energy – they could easily be a main act in many indie venues. Their albums are good, but their live performance is amazing. We were hooked about half way through the set when during the song “Children” half of the band joined in on percussion. Lead singer Matthew Vasquez, sporting a nice semi-hollow body electric guitar, provided a bluesy rock sound. It was a great night of music, with lots of shoulder dancing and head bobbing in the sold out crowd.
MP3’s:
