I'll be trying to get some tickets. Friday night no less.

Dates:

02-08 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
02-09 Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom
02-10 Chicago, IL - Congress Theater
02-11 St. Louis, MO - The Pagent
02-12 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
02-13 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
02-15 Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium
02-16 Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue
02-20 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theater
02-21 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
02-25 London, England - The Astoria

Sweet, I'll be at the St. Louis show.

isn't this band kinda boring live?

and why do they always play the congress? i think their last 2-3 chicago shows have been there.

I was just gonna comment on that. The Congress sucks.

Anyone else going to be at the Milwaukee show tomorrow?

Dude, we saw them there a few years ago. It was NOT very good, I'm sorry to say. I've detailed the problems elsewhere, but basically they struck me as James Mercer and the James Mercers, except live, there's only one of him. So no harmonies, no guitar solos, etc.

It was pretty Meh, but tell me if they're better now - I hope they are.


Plus I hate that venue with a passion now... can make anyone sound shitty, apparently.

i've never seen a show there and the only time i've the shins live they were great....hopefully it'll be a decent experience.

Get there early, stake out a good spot, and defend it with your life. And yeah, I hope so too - I love the band.

This was essentially their set-list (the same as Minneapolis apparently)

Sleeping Lessons
Australia
Pam Berry->Phantom Limb
Kissing the Lipless
Mine’s Not a High Horse
Girl Inform Me
Girl on the Wing
New Slang
Saint Simon
Girl Sailor
Turn a Square
Gone for Good
A Comet Appears
Turn on Me
Caring Is Creepy

Encore:

Pressed in a Book
So Says I


They tweaked Girl on the Wing with a new arrangement.

They were pretty darn good but the sound was a bit muddy and the Garden State Effect was in full force.

I even witnessed two different people yell "this is the Garden State song" when New Slang started.

Phantom Limb, Turn a Square, Turn on Me and Caring is Creepy were the highlights.

Heya DHR Jericho... I was at the show last night and agree with you... it wasnt the best sound, but for the Eagles Ballroom it was pretty darn good.

The Shins need to do something different with their dynamic or something. Maybe it just needs a kick in the butt, but they were pretty boring live. The drummer looked comatose to me. James' voice was dead on, but that was only so good you know?

Even their lights were very boring... No pizazze at all, no flash, just kinda there...I didnt expect a DIO concert, but give me something for my $24 plus fees.

We didnt see Viva Voce...

Damn it was cold last night too hey?

One final remark. I dont know what I should have been expecting, but they just didnt thrill me live. So much so that I dont think I would see them again, given the chance. Oh, and they didnt play, "Sea Legs" so that would have made it better also...



Overall Grade: C -- Very very very average.

You guys aren't really making me look forward to tomorrow night.

I agree that they weren't very dynamic but i thought the performance was pretty good. My biggest complaint was the yahoo's around me.

Viva Voce was pretty good but they played a few jammy numbers that dragged on a bit. I was suprised by their pretty full sound. I didn't realize the lady was pretty good guitar player. She rocked pretty hard.

By the way i was wearing an England scarf because i didn't bring a coat because we were taking a cab to and fro. It led to some guy stopping me outside the bathroom to discuss his trip to england and the Eng vs. Jamaica qualifier (the Peter Crouch hat trick game i beleive). He as pretty excited that i grew up there. Seemed like a nice young man....most everyone else annoyed me (no fault of the Shins).

I was hoping they would have switched up their set-list just a bit. I knew what to expect from the More Cowbell blog.

Ours was pretty similar. I know they played "One and One All Day" though. I was surprised by the lack of "Know Your Onion".

Also, the venue opened the doors at about 8 and there was a line. By the time we got inside, Viva Voce was almost finished. That sucked!

I don't know what you guys are talking about with the no harmonies/guitar solos. I heard plenty of them. I thought the Shins sounded great and they were well worth the price.

The Pageant is probably the best venue in St. Louis, though. Wonderful sound system.

I don't think their set list changed any, which shouldn't be surprising.

Good - sounds like they made some changes! Trust me when I say it wasn't always so (and judging from the above, they still have some ground to cover.)

w/viva voce & won't be able to go