On Monday 31st April I was fortunate enough to see The Shins live at Terminal 5 in NYC. Although it was not completely sold out the place was crammed with men and woman of all ages. First up was the support: Chairlift. Until Monday I had never heard of Chairlift, an American Synthpop band based in Brooklyn, New York.
Chairlift have been touring for the last three months and have some good songs. Although lead singer Caroline Polachek had a good voice, her constant flamboyant dancing proved to be very distracting and at times just weird! I probably wouldn't check this band out again.
Kicking the night off with "Kissing The Lipless," the crowd knew they were in for a great night. Most of the songs played during the night were from The Shins recently released fourth album "Port of Morrow" (see set list below). Although the crowd were cheering from the word go, the loudest reaction unsurprisingly came when they played their most popular tunes "New Slang," "Phantom of Limb" and my personal favorite "Caring is Creepy."
I must say the highlight for me was when James Mercer's (lead singer) performed an acoustic solo of "Young Pilgrims" during the encore. Drenched in sweat, Mercer put his absolute all into it, and as a result had the entire crowd captivated and singing along. His performance was flawless and left me in awe!
Although the band didn't say too much during the entire gig, their vocal and instrumental performances certainly made up for this. Accompanied by new band mates; Jessica Dobson (former beck guitarist), Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse drummer), and special guests Haley Dekle and Amber Coffman of the Dirty Projectors as backing vocalists, Mercer played a strong set.
The set list was: Kissing the Lipless, Simple Song, Bait and Switch, So Says I, Mine's Not a High Horse, Saint Simon, Pam Berry, Phantom Limb, No Way Down, Sphagnum Esplanade, Simple Song, New Slang, Australia, The Rifle's Spiral, Caring is Creepy, It's Only Life, One by One All Day.
Encore: Young Pilgrims (solo), Port of Morrow, Sleeping Lessons.
For upcoming performances (N. America) - check out: http://www.tourtracker.com/artist/the-shins/1402086
