The Trail

Issue date: 3/2/07 Section: A&E

The Shins mean business.

This fact may be disconcerting for fans who have followed the band from their humble roots in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Shins are best known for their brand of endearing harmonized melodies and 60's instrumentation. Singer James Mercer's lyrics are adorably earnest but empathetically bitter. The Shins are the goofballs of indie rock and the new underdogs of popular music. This is a band that melts your heart.

The Shins' late January release, "Wincing the Night Away," finds the group at the top of their form not just musically but commercially as well. Moving over 100,000 copies with a surprising debut at the number two spot on the Billboard Charts, "Wincing" is far and away the band's most successful entrance into the mainstream.

The band has clearly been preparing for this kind of stardom. The Shins have revamped their live show for a new audience.
Playing a second sold-out show at the majestic Paramount Theatre in Seattle on Feb. 20, the band entered the stage graciously alongside their new fifth member, Eric Johnson, previously of the Fruit Bats. The Shins broke into the new album's first four tracks, opening with an extended version of "Wincing's" lead track, "Sleeping Lessons." Single "Phantom Limb" sounded particularly sharp accompanied by the "Pam Berry" prelude and harmonized backup vocals from Anita Robinson, guitarist from opening duo Viva Voce.

The show then shifted into a set focused on older material off of 2001's "Oh, Inverted World" and 2003's "Chutes Too Narrow" albums. Classics, such as "Know Your Onion!" and "Gone For Good," sounded spectacular. While many songs out of the band's repertoire were performed note-for-note to the album versions, the highlights of the concert were the creative liberties the Shins took translating tracks into live territory. A new, slower rendition of "Girl on the Wing" gave the song a newfound tempestuous weight.

The sound quality of the set was magnificent, proving that the extra cash you spend seeing a show at the Paramount instead of the Moore Theatre may not be in vain. On songs such as "Turn On Me," which boast three separate guitars and four vocal harmonies, the live audio mixing rivaled its recorded counterpart for depth and clarity.

The Shins have always had a tradition of strong live performances, but this show exhibited a new direction for the band. Noticeably different was the Shins' stage presence. This is the first time the band has toured with a set. Keyboardist and band jokester Marty Crandall has been moved to the back, while Mercer, previously set stage left in the band's live history, took front and center. Between-song banter, usually involving an abundance of Crandall's touring anecdotes, was cut down to an uncharacteristic minimum.

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