The Shins - Bush Hall

Kim and I managed to score a couple of rare-as-hen’s-teeth tickets to The Shins semi-secret show at The Bush Hall in Shepherds Bush.
The Bush Hall could well be my new favorite venue in London – basically one long room, with a nice and high stage at one end, they also enforce a strict non-smoking policy in the band room, which makes such a difference from the smoke-pits most London gigs are held in.
The Shins have added a fifth member since I saw them last. Eric Johnson (of fellow Sub Pop band Fruit Bats) who played a mix of guitar and keyboards – and the additional instrumentation also gave the band a chance to mix up the sound.
Rather than the faithful reproduction of album recordings, “New Slang” was fleshed out with prominent acoustic guitar, while “Gone For Good” and “So Says I” become thick and heavy with extra electric guitar.
Also the material from the just released ‘Wincing The Night Away’ varies somewhat in live performance. A drawn out “Sleeping Lessons” started the show, while “Girl Sailor” included some mid-song backing vocals that aren’t immediately discernable on record.
An encore cover of The Modern Lovers “Someone I Care About” was a power-punk surprise, and the show closing “So Says I” left everyone happy.
So quite a different show to The Killers stadium filling bombardment last night – but a small intimate joy.

The Killers – Wembley Arena

We only caught the last few songs of support act Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – but they sounded pretty good in a shoe-gazey Jesus and Mary Chain kinda way. Closer “Whatever Happened To My Rock N Roll” - which I remembered a from a few years ago - was a highlight.

The opening of The Killers set was some of the most exhilarating stadium rock I’ve ever seen. Starting with a projection of b&w footage of Las Vegas and the surrounding desert, with some pre-recorded orchestral and choir music that lead into the ‘Sam’s Town’ album opening trilogy of the title track, the short "enterlude", and “When You Were Young”. The latter complete with glistening confetti launched through the area. In fact - the crowd's wild enthusiam , stomping and clapping to orchestral music accompanied by tv static and grainy b&w visuals - is as close as I can imagine to attending a Nazi rally in the 1930s. All extreme passion and power of the many group dynamics.

But - onto the music: the start of the show was heavily front-loaded with singles, first single “When You Were Young” followed by second single “Bones”. Leaving the band to focus on album tracks, and the plethora of singles from their debut ‘Hot Fuss’. “Somebody Told Me”, “Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll” and “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine” all featured. With the main set closing with “Mr Brightside”.

A surprising inclusion in the encore was a cover of Joy Division’s “Shadowplay”, although it seemed to leave most of the crowd pretty cold. The anthemic “All These Things That I've Done” closed the first encore. Before the band snuck back on for the short, album-closer, “exitlude”.