The Shins - The Forum 28/03/07

I’ve been waiting for the Shins to come and play in Europe since I first heard of them. I’m not trying to sound all inclusive and EU by saying that, I mean that I was prepared to visit whichever City they played in Europe if they chose to shun the UK. I was beginning to look forward to telling friends I was off to Paris to watch The Shins, or to Copenhagen to take in their gig. It was with only mild disappointment that I missed out on tickets for their only London date at the Astoria (a dive at the best of times); it was a chance to start looking at Eurostar prices…

Then I got the call from a friend, “They’ve announced a new date at the Forum, would you like me to get you a ticket?“

Kentish Town is alright; I wasn’t there for the sights. Pre-gig eats were slim pickings. I found myself in Nandos realising that, jarring against liberal Guardian politics, I had to immediately escape these horrid whiny people with spots and full fat Coke.

I’ve loved James Mercer’s jangling melodies and infectious scholar of pop nuances since Natalie Portman had The Shins on her walkman in the movie Garden State. It’s often the best time to discover band, when they already have two well received albums out to root out and fall in love with. I soon became The Shins biggest fan. In my mind. I even have a T Shirt.

They kicked off with Sleeping Lessons, the first song from their brilliant new album, Wincing the Night Away; arguably their best yet, especially if getting to number two in the US Album Charts is part of your argument. A worry with a band that sounds so good recorded is that they might not be able to carry it off live. They can. With bells on. The crowd responded well and we were treated to more from Wincing The Night Away. But the real treat for me was when Kissing the Lipless came on, followed by Caring is Creepy and New Slang. I almost forgot about the compromising of my liberal ideals in Nandos earlier as I lost myself in the fantastic inclusive, dynamic sound that threads throughout these songs.

Mercer’s lyrics are weaved together intelligently in such a way that it would take the Enigma machine to decipher them, and probably break it. That they throw in a couple of covers to add some new flavour is testament to their commerciality; they don’t take themselves too seriously. We had Breath by Pink Floyd, which was performed brilliantly. The next cover was Someone I Care About by Modern Lovers. Any melancholic qualities from their own songs gave way to pure fun as this was bounded out with abandon. The guy from the support act went crazy on a cowbell, shaking his Animal mane wildly. The whole band seem to be set free and the obvious good nature between them all radiates around the entire room.