The Shins - Atlanta Civic Center - 10/17/07

God bless The Shins. They're such a cute band. They're a bunch of thirty somethings that look like guys you might know from around the way that happen to be in a really cool pop band. I mean, James Mercer, their frontman, had his shirt tucked in during the show. I think that says it all.
The actual show was interesting. It started slow but steadily gained momentum until it settled into the comfortable groove we've come to expect from these guys. We showed up right as they were starting and although we had great seats I was a little worried that I wasn't going to have that great of a time. The sound was a little lacking and I was kinda rushed into the whole thing. They started with Sleeping Lessons which was certainly fitting but it's a rocker and they aren't really the type of band that "fucking brings it". It might have been as simple as me not being warmed up (I've grown to respect the importance of an opening band regardless of whether they are good or not, half the fun is the anticipation). I finally got into about four songs in and they slowed it down with A Comet Appears. That was actually the best song of the set. It got quiet enough to highlight the strengths of the band, James Mercer's fragile sensibilty and his deft intimate lyrics.
They kept that momentum and played their staples Kissing the Liplessand New Slang. Everyone was swept away into the land of la-la's and oo-oo's. Just a PG bubblegum good time.
You do have to think that The Shins are the type of band that will be well known to those of us from this generation but maybe lost in the shuffle in the years to come. You know how when someone who is like 8 years older than you tells you about a band from the 80's that was really influential on REM and you have no idea what they're talking about...that's us in 7 years. But not to worry, it's now and The Shins are at the height of their run.