The set was pretty heavy on the crowd pleasing rockers which seems appropriate for the venue/crowd... but as someone who's more into the weirder/mellower tunes on the records I wouldn't mind seeing them at Neumos or someplace they might not feel pressured to rawk out for an hour and a half.

Last night, it was undeniably clear to me (I don't know why) that the more they tried to sound like the Kinks (especially "Know Your Onion," "Caring is Creepy" and most of the Oh, Inverted World album), the better received they were -- both by me and the audience.

I'm bummed by the "new direction" on Wincing the Night Away, in the sense that the new material is slow, meandering and ultimately boring. It sucked to see them slow down older songs in a large live setting, as well -- who wants to stand around for a pop show that's 65% ballads?

Anyway, no, The Shins never seemed like much of a life-changing band to me, and I also believe it's shortsighted to even ask base such a premise off a line from a Zach Braff movie.

I admit it. I was wearing fleece. It was cold and clear last night and decided a fleece vest would be better than no coat at all.

I was in front next to the left speaker and I agree that the guitar melody lines should have been turned up. I'm also in full agreement with DJ FITS about their capacity to touch an audience. This is a headphones or small venue band, not a paramount sized band.