The Shins Album Release Concert

I just got back from the Virgin Megastore in Union Square where I saw The Shins play. Randomly today I looked at the Village Voice and saw an ad: if you buy the band's new record tonight at 11, you can see the band play at midnight. So I thought, why not? I already had the album digitally, but this way I got the hardware and a short concert for $15. They only let about 300 people in to the Virgin Café, and I'm glad to say I was in the crowd after surviving frostbite for 2 hours on the sidewalk. The band, formed in Albuquerque, will release the album, entitled Wincing the Night Away, nationwide on Tuesday. It's a solid CD, and although I haven't yet delved into it deeply, I can say it holds up to the standards set by the bands previous albums, Oh, Inverted World and Chutes Too Narrow. Non-Shins fans would most likely recognize the band from the movie "Garden State" when Natalie Portman listens to them in the hospital. They have a unique sound; they almost have their own genre. The band played to a very enthusiastic crowd tonight, rocking out throughout their all-too-short 8 song set. James Mercer was brilliant as usual, and the fun side of the band came out between the songs as well. 5 of the 8 songs they played are off Wincing, and the other three were their hits "Girl Inform Me", "Caring is Creepy" and "So Says I". Glad I heard about this one in time, as I'm still fuming from missing Andrew Bird at Bowery last week and missed out on getting tickets to the upcoming Camera Obscura and Arcade Fire shows, which are sold out. Oh, I also got the bands setlist. Someone doesn't know how to spell "Australia".

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[mp3] The Shins - "Turn on Me" | iTunes