March 25th, 2007 The Shins at Barrowland, Glasgow

My gig-going policy is simply “stick to top favourites” (while half of my top ten aren’t touring any more) and I hadn’t attend a gig in ages. Sorry if this doesn’t look like a review!

It was my first time going to the Barrowland Ballroom and I had to do some street teaming for Jeremy Warmsley. I thought I should go a bit earlier. I arrived at 3pm and there wasn’t any others - just a BBC Scotland van. I did not have anything else to do anyway so I just stood outside the entrance and waited. At around 4:30pm, The Shins and Jeremy walked out of the exit a few feet away. James said “Let’s take a walk.” They took a wee walk around and entered a music store across the road, and went back in. Due to my shyness, I did not get to talk to them. But I was happy enough to exchange glances, nods and smiles with the guys.

Other folks started to arrive at 6:30pm. I talked to some of them while doing my job, quite a few don’t even come from Glasgow.. Just showed how popular the guys are!

Doors opened at 7pm, and everybody rushed in. I placed myself in the front row on the left. Jeremy appeared on the stage not long after. From what I had gathered before the show, most attendees didn’t know about him that much. They showed him quite a lot of support nevertheless. The only songs I recognized were “I Believe in the Way You Move” and “Dirty Blue Jeans”. However, I was amazed! My personal favourite was the last song where he played the keyboard, which I forgot the title of. Unfortunately all the pictures I had of him are blurry.

Jeremy Warmsley

Viva Voce came up next at around 8pm. They are based in Portland, Oregon as well and have been touring with The Shins for months, for obviously good reasons. I did not know anything about them before the gig, I was impressed. “We Do Not Fuck Around” was a little bit cheesy, still had its effects though. “From the Devil Himself” was an awesome track, and they did a great live version. And I wondered so much about Anita, she is pretty, and she rocked so well! They went a bit too loud for my liking, but most of us enjoyed them!

Viva Voce

A bit later than 9:00, we had The Shins! Instead of the t-shirts and jeans I had see them in a few hours back, they appeared wearing smart suits. They started by a few tracks on Wincing the Night Away, which I think was a good idea. The songs warmed up the crowd and I certainly loved how “Australia” sounded live.

James

James stopped for a while to talk to the audience. When some shouted “New slang!”, he smiled and replied “Requesting songs already huh?” The crowd got excited as they started playing “Kissing the Lipless”. The next several songs were all from Oh! Inverted World and Chutes Too Narrow, therefore we were familiar with those. Some of us even started to sing along with James.

Marty

I recently read an interview with James on a US magazine in which James briefly discussed “New Slang”. He said he loved the song but he’d love more attention on their newer music. I must say I agree with him and “New Slang” is not my favourite Shins song. However, the performance of “New Slang” still blew us away. I had never realized such a laid back song would be played just as beautifully live. At that moment when people were wooooing along, I felt that I belonged and was truly attached to the gig.

Dave

The last time The Shins performed in Glasgow was last year at QMU at Glasgow University. James did not remember the name of the venue, and our attempts to tell him ended failed. The guys did manage to recognize the faces of a few lucky attendees (I envy you!) The crowd was probably the ‘highest’ when they played “Turn A Square” and “Caring Is Creepy”. My favourite was when they played “A Comet Appears”, James’s voice soared when everyone was calming down a little and catching their breath.

The guys left the stage after “Know Your Onion!” while we eagerly urged for the encore. They came back not long after with a performance of “Pink Bullets”, a slightly depressing and beautiful song. I was very glad that they played this song, and James did an amazing job as an harmonica-guitarist. They made me smile when they sang “a winter’s day”.

James singing "Pink Bullets"

They then did a cover of a Modern Lovers song, and of course that was an awesome cover. The song doesn’t sound the Shins itself, they decided to own it too. The gig ended with “So Says I”, also a brilliant choice. One of the best lines (in my humble opinion) of the Shins - “Tell Sir Thomas More we’ve got another failed attempt!” I do not think it could feel any more right, or righter!

Overall I enjoyed the gig a lot. I was delighted that they played so many tracks off Chutes Too Narrow, an album sometimes neglected and slightly harder to rock live. It would have been even more perfect if they had played “Young Pilgrims”, but of course it is just my idea again.

Many thanks to Dave, who threw a couple of set lists to us and the kind girl who gave one of them to me. Here’s the Set List:

Sleeping Lessons
Australia
Phantom Limbs
Kissing the Lipless
Mine Is Not a High Horse
Girl Inform Me
Girl On Wing
New Slang
Saint Simon
Girl Sailor
Turn a Square
Gone For Good
A Comet Appears
Turn On Me
Caring Is Creepy
Know Your Onion!
—
Pink Bullets
Someone I Care About (Modern Lovers cover)
So Says I

I love the Shins and hope to see them live again in the future.