The Shins at Fowler's Live

I went to see The Shins in a sold-out gig supported by Adelaide band The Pharoahs and Melbourne indie rockers Even. In 3 words: It Freaking Rocked!


First up were local Adelaide three-piece, The Pharoahs, whose sound reminds me of The White Stripes' Jack White's vocals with catchy hooks similar to D4, Dallas Crane and I hate to say it, Jet. They played for about 45 minutes to a small crowd and were tight. They just seem excited that people were catching their gig even though punters were aching for The Shins already. I say, good support but they should be a bit more confident.


Next were popular indie rock outfit, Even, and they tore the place up with Ash's awesome guitar licks and the tight bass and drum combination. They were amazing live for a band that's been around for 10 or so years, still taking it underground (but have made a few famous fans including The Dandy Warhols). I loved their set and wished they played for more than 1 hour but the crowd was already hyping for The Shins, so another 45-minute set had to end.


Yes, The Shins finally hit the stage around 11.15pm and the crowd went nuts. And I mean, crazy nuts. Marty spoke the most for the band because he is the goofy, loud one (and I must remind you all, he is my favourite reality TV show contestant, Elyse Sewell's, cheating ex-). So Marty isn't all that, obviously. Again, another tight bass and drum combination. James Mercer is a brilliant singer that even the crowd are too scared/chilled to sing along to him (but that didn't stop a few people), just so we could hear his amazing voice sing those eclectic lyrics and feel it. They were just freaking amazing live.


The Shins performed all their popular hits from 2001's Oh, Inverted World and 2002's Chutes Too Narrow, including Caring is Creeping, Mine's Not a High Horse, Young Pilgrims, So Says I, Fighting in a Sack, Kissing the Lipless, my favourite track Pink Bullets, the Garden State hit New Slang and they closed with Know Your Onion, which ended with Marty giving me a knowing nod and a wave because I was wearing my "Do You Know Your ONION?" t-shirt. I think he wanted the t-shirt but since its Shanny's custom-made for me, he's missing out. He seems nice but still I'm siding with Elyse.

Highlights of their set: Marty being all dance rock and playing a cool 80s type riff on his keyboard in between songs with a little drum track backing it. Somehow, I expected him to belt out a Scissor Sisters' number but that didn't happen. During Pink Bullets, one girl next to me fainted because it was hot and she looked dehydrated. Her boyfriend and friend helped her up and I yelled for the security guard who gave her a bottle of water. She still felt sick and since it was towards the end of the song (my favourite song of all things), James who was right infront of me asked if she's ok and I just gave him a knowing shrug and he got confused. You just don't expect this to happen at a Shins gig but as Marty said after James talked ot me, "I guess we just really rocked her out". I still blame the poor ventilation.


All in all, best gig I've been in ages and The Shins didn't disappoint at all. The majority of the crowd were huge fans of The Shins and the atmosphere was amazing for a small Adelaide venue like Fowler's Live. Over 4 hours of music for AUS$40 for a packed, small crowd. Not bad at all!