The Shins

The Shins are one of my favorite bands, especially one that isn't from the jam band world. This was my second time seeing them, also at the Ryman, a must-go-to venue if you're ever in Nashville. James Mercer is a genius. And whoever he has playing with him as The Shins you can bet they'll put on a fantastic show. The lights were an added flashy touch to their psychedelic pop sounds. I cannot wait to see them again. I'm very sorry to take off half a star because the opening band was one of the worst bands I can remember seeing in a while. I don't remember their name. However, this was quickly forgotten when The Shins took the stage and made our night. Thank you.

Awesome band. The PA went out & all we could hear was the amps with the drums—like a raw practice—& it was glorious. Really showed the chops & the fact that we were watching a real band play real instruments

I have been a fan of The Shins for a long time and I always wanted to see them play live but never have until this week. We saw them at the Paramount Theater in Seattle on Tuesday night (the 13th) and then again on the last night of the tour at the Pioneer Courthouse Square on Friday night (the 16th). The set list was almost exactly the same with the full, album-ordered song list from Oh, Inverted World followed by a short list of other great songs. Mercer definitely seemed to be having more fun at the Portland show (probably because it was the last night of a two month tour and he slept in his own bed for the first time in a while the night before!) but both shows were absolutely fantastic. I am so glad that we were able to see this band play and I can only hope that they have new music and future tours in the works. I would see them every time that I could anytime they are in the Pacific Northwest. BTW, a shout-out also to the opening band, Joseph. We saw Natalie Schepman open for Deep Sea Diver earlier this year and were excited to see her with her sisters in Joseph open for The Shins. They also came back out as sang back-up on the Oh, Inverted World songs.

For the 21st anniversary of “Oh, Inverted World,” The Shins played the whole album front to back with (the incredible folk/pop band) Joseph singing backup on many of the songs. Everything sounded truly amazing. After that album’s tunes were complete, they started performing a “greatest hits” playlist. 3 or 4 songs in, 30 seconds into the song Australia, the house sound just stopped working. Completely off. But the stage sound was still fine, so the band had no idea that it had happened. The crowd could still hear the drums and all the guitars/bass coming from their amps on stage, and knowing all the words, they gladly filled in for the missing vocals. It wasn’t until after the song was over that the band found out nothing was playing through the house speakers. After some confusion, rather than calling it quits (which I absolutely expected considering they had already been playing for over an hour), they started playing vocal-less covers. A chunk of Everybody Wants to Rule The World, the first minute of Vaseline by STP, and (by loud crowd request) The Sweater Song—which the crowd happily shouted along with. Midway thru the Weezer tune, the house audio started working again, but the band didn’t realize and continued to rip thru The Sweater Song sing-along. Eventually, they found out everything was working again, and then went back into their own tunes, playing at least 4-5 more. They even came back to do an encore. First song in, James Mercer’s guitar audio was malfunctioning. Yet again, rather than giving up, they improvised a plan and played the tune with two violins picking up the slack. It was spellbinding. It couldn’t have sounded better. This was definitely one of the coolest concerts I’ve ever been too. What a class act. Rather than getting pissed and calling it quits, they made an excellent night even more memorable. I was completely blown away.

This was my third seeing The Shins and they were great as always. This show was particularly special, since they played through their entire first album. The opening band, Joseph was also fantastic. Just a fun night all around.

Great except too short. Many great songs were missing from their other albums. However The songs they did play were amazing and it’s hard to go back to the studio version

Fantastic show! Already looking forward to the 21st birthday tour for Chutes Too Narrow. James Mercer is uniquely gifted as a songwriter, and along with Mark Watrous (guitar) Patti King (keyboards), Yuuki Matthews (bass) and Jon Sortland (drums), The Shins make a lasting impression. It says a lot to me that TWO families around me had selected this show to be their kids first ever concert experience. Kids and parents were ecstatic by the end of the show! Joseph was fun both as an opening act and providing back-up vocals for some of The Shins songs. If there was any negative, the merchandise options were limited, but that is splitting hairs.

The Shins’ versatility was the star of the show tonight - with multiple members playing 3+ instruments. They played the entirety of Oh, Inverted World and then 4 or 5 of their biggest hits afterwards. The show was incredible, the drummer was arguably the best part of the show, and the Ryman itself felt like its own part of the band.

A fine performance by a tight band, and on a wonderful evening downtown at 2,100 m. Performance was stellar in the old hall, and the crowd really appreciated the visit from James and company, our neighbor to the east from long ago. Perhaps next time at the outdoor amphitheater; a bit more room to get up and dance around under a full lit Moon? Happy 21st Birthday Oh, Inverted One!

We purchased VIP tickets just to get a small gift bag with a few cute things. Bartender said they weren’t open yet. People who paid regular price and got there early got the same treatment.

The venue was great. Sound and lights were very well done. The opening act, Joseph, was shockingly good and participated in the Shins performance. This was a bucket list show for me and they did not disappoint. Absolutely fantastic. I hope they release a live album from this tour.

This was the best concert I've been to in years. The band was so good. They were all very accomplished musicians. There were times where I was completely blown away at how well their songs sounded live. This is definitely one of my top five favorite shows of all time.

overall, it was a decent show. I felt the bass was too pronounced, and he is definitely losing the ability to hit those amazing high notes which we all love. the encore was a sweet surprise mash up. I won't spoil it for anyone here, but it was really good.

I have loved The Shins since 2008 ,seeing them live 5 times! The show was awesome ! Mercer is the most creative ,talented singer/Songwriter musician!!! with group Joseph ,The girls were awesome!!!

Awesome to hear The Shins live. Thought it was great that Joseph were included as vocalists for some of the songs. I'm getting too old, I definitely should have worn ear plugs.

This show couldn’t have been better. Beyond an experience which was certainly not just listening to the album tracks live, both people in the crowd and people working the show went out of their way to put me right by the stage so that I could see (I’m in a manual wheelchair). I waited a decade to see them, and I was perfectly content to simply be able to hear them live, so this was way above and beyond my expectations.

The show was incredible. The band played amazing. James' vocals were ON POINT. Far superior to the Shins show I saw a couple years ago. The Violins were a lovely addition as well. I do wish they played at least one more song though. Maybe something off "Port of Morrow," because it wasn't as well represented as the other albums. The show just felt a little short. Maybe I'm spoiled by bands with super long sets but I expected a bit more. A couple of the songs were really fast too. Much faster than the album. like... waaaay faster. "So Now What" kind of felt like it was on purpose. "The Rifle's Spiral" didn't feel like it was on purpose. It kept getting faster and faster. Still these are super minor critiques. The Shins are my favorite band and I would go again tonight if I could.

Great show! James and the band seemed like they were having fun, and hearing songs from all their albums was great. I'm OFFICIALLY STATING HERE THE FOLLOWING IDEA: 1-day, all 5 albums performed in order. 1 hour playing 1 hour break, 1 hour playing, 1 hour break, etc... start at noon. End at 10pm. $100-$150 Portland Oregon, Albuquerque New Mexico, and the 10 other cities that have the largest amount of The Shins fans. With projected animation and art from their videos and album artist. Share with James & the band. I'll help. :)

The band sounded great and the energy was terrific. They played songs from across their catalog and highlighted the show with a few songs off the new album. Special moments included impromptu joke "performances" of Corey Hart's Sunglasses at Night and the Night Rider theme song. There was also an awesome musical "tip of the hat" to Tom Petty during the final number.

amazing music obviously!! great sound. However, the lights kept hitting me and my sister in our eyes and the show was ridiculously over crowded. i have never been more smashed in sardine style in my life. Overall a good time.