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Concert Review: The Shins Finally Deliver On What Albums' Promise - Columnists

Concert Review: The Shins Finally Deliver On What Albums' Promise - Columnists
Sammy King  |  by www.ketv.com. All rights reserved. 12.02 | 22:30

2007


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One of rock 'n' roll's defining attributes has always been a commitment to authenticity (even if it's only an illusion). Few fans would want to know a songwriting ace actually wrote their favorite angst-y anthem and not the singer pouring his or her heart out to the microphone.

The Monkees remain a painful taboo and many fans want artists to prove it.
Luckily for them, authenticity is one of alternative-rock group the Shins' most poignant and alluring qualities.
But in recent years, while the Portland, Ore.

,-based group could be relied upon to excite young indie-rock fans with their heart-on-their-sleeve pop albums, their onstage performances have remained the one arena where the Shins have consistently underwhelmed us.


On Friday night at the Rave/Eagles Club in Milwaukee, the group finally matched its recorded output by demonstrating that it now had the capacity to pull off such feats in person.
In previous shows, the Shins were fairly raw and charming, but never as powerful or astonishingly manicured as on their records.

The band had a number of surface-level similarities to the Wonders, the fictional early '60s pop outfit depicted in the Tom Hanks' movie, "That Thing You Do." As in the film, the Shins had an almost humorless singer-songwriter in frontman James Mercer while the rest of the group struck silly rock-star poses, swapped instruments and acted like clowns on stage.
There was little buffoonery on Friday -- the band acted like seasoned professionals.

Their sound was also slightly different. It was more full, thanks, in large part, to the addition of another guitarist, Eric Johnson of Sub Pop labelmates the Fruit Bats. The group's new-found serious approach toward their stagecraft provided a firm confirmation for all the converts they've won after getting name-dropped in a movie and a couple of TV shows.

These guys are for real.
One only needed to hear the power and range in Mercer's voice to allay any doubts. Only one date into an abbreviated North American tour, Mercer sounded fantastic as he implied vocalists ranging from the Cure's Robert Smith to Bono.

No song was sung in a safer, lower key and no old chestnut was performed with a zombie's passion.
Perhaps this was because the band was excited to play the material off their current record, "Wincing The Night Away." They immediately dove into the new cuts, playing the disc's first four tracks in order.

The luxuriously slow "Sleeping Lessons" gave the group a chance to ease into the concert, but the song's explosive second half was a mighty demonstration of their blossoming abilities. Mercer was energized, veins bulging on his neck and head, and was singing his heart out.
The bouncy "Australia" got the crowd's feet tapping and accentuated their skills at making '60s-style pop with cheery, Beach Boys vocal harmonies.

"Phantom Limb" was perfect jangle-ly rock and was identical to the recorded version. The crowd response to the new music was warm, but could never match the enthusiasm for the songs from their first albums.
"Kissing The Lipless" got most of the crowd singing along to the powerhouse song that they've likely sung in their car on top volume.

The band answered with an onslaught of sound -- electric guitars, twinkling keyboards and propulsive drum pattern. The group expanded the song's yearning, wordless coda to a conclusion.
Other songs were altered as well, but much more dramatically.

"Saint Simon" now has an electric piano introduction played by Johnson that sounded like Radiohead's "Karma Police." The ordinarily peppy "Girl On A Wing" was reorganized as a lounge-y, jazz tune with electric piano, synthesizer and Mercer playing some bright, jazz chords. This quieter version gave Mercer's voice little competition as it filled and then echoed throughout the cavernous venue.


The crowd became equally hushed when the group played their biggest hit, the acoustic "New Slang." As many of the woman in attendance cheered, the song was also a cue for every guy in the crowd to put his arm around his girlfriend. Many chose to enhance the experience by silently breaking out their lighters.


The audience was ready to sing-along again during "Gone For Good." The performance was poppier and more energetic than the country-rock rendition on the group's second album. So too was "Turning A Square," which is now a fun, '50s-style raver.

It was sped-up like a punk-pop version of "The Twist" and had the legions of kids dancing badly on the old ballroom's hardwood floors.
As the band worked through the best of their new and old material, the inclusion of recent song "A Comet Appears" was their only major stumble. The painfully slow tune was oddly sandwiched between faster, better songs and its three-minute duration seemed a dull eternity.

Many onlookers took the subdued performance to talk to their neighbor about their plans for after the concert.
This same fate beset opening act Viva Voce. The group is a White Stripes-like two-piece, but in this case, the guy is the drummer and vocalist while his wife plays a double-neck Danelectro guitar.

The group tried softer, rambling pieces that left many disinterested, and then desperately attempted to win the people over with a hard-hitting snare drum and thunderous guitar licks.
After the inconsistent opening performance, the Shins maximized their fans' deep connection with their old songs to entice them back and then sealed the deal with a string of stellar performances. The wondrous "Caring Is Creepy" had bassist-keyboardist Marty Crandall bouncing behind his keyboard.

Mercer sang as if he had something to prove. Between verses, he lunged back to the microphone as if drawn by a powerful magnet. It was a rendition so exhilarating that it had the crowd stomping on the wood floors, which shook like a stampede.


The band dutifully finished with a dynamic, joyful encore of "Pressed In A Book" and "So Says I" that left concert-goers with a smile. And despite the group's new musical powers and professionalism, the smiles weren't all because of the music. Crandall, the group's chief comedian, just couldn't seem to let the show go without a cute observation.


"We want to bring some warmth to this freezing a** cold city of yours," he said.
By injecting their performance with the passion and fire that they've always delivered on their albums, the Shins banished the Midwest winter blues.
Note: David's music column, Soundbytes, appears Wednesdays in our Entertainment section.

He welcomes your

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Keywords: On Friday
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