the shins @ webster hall
oh this life, full of rock shows, can be admittedly quite exciting. i took garrett to see the shins on saturday at webster hall, and we got there early enough to get primo seats in the balcony -- with the perfect view of james, marty and the rest of the boys. this made us feel like we were attending the opera or something.

the shins are so good live that it hurts. james mercer's vocals are right on, and at times, breathtakingly poignant. their live show is also well balanced between upbeat and quiet, but consistently, all of their songs were fucking hits. there aren't many bands around today where every song they play is catchy, whimsical and strangely nostalgic (for a band that is not old at all). i was singing along the entire time and swaying like a mesmerized dork.

at one point, someone did yell "take off your pants." this reminded me of days of yore when i was "younger" and always found in the pit, as close to the stage as i could get. now i just can't deal with the crowd so much because i get kinda claustrophobic.

i also saw the opening band, the brunettes. they were cute as predicted... there were a lot of people on stage which made me think of those large canadian bands like arcade fire, hidden cameras, broken social scene, but this band was from new zealand. i was pretty into it at first, but after a few songs, the set started to blur together. just my opinion, but i think they are a novelty act. cute and uber of-the-moment, but in the end, they may not last too long because the music is quite trendy and dependent on the transient charm of its players.