The Santa Fe New Mexican from Santa Fe, New Mexico • Page Z010

PASA REVIEWS Shin ny happy people A banner hung from the El Rey balcony for the April 10 concert. been a few years since the band played its hometown all the members but lead singer and songwriter James Mercer were born and raised in Albuquerque and in those years the group seemed to distance itself from the city. from Albuquerque but a Portland drummer Jesse Sandoval told Paste magazine in its February issue. Fair enough: Mercer admitted he wrote the breakthrough song, four from the El Rey Theater, but the popularity hit the stratosphere until well after its members had Oregon tags on their cars. The most recent album, Wincing the Night Away, debuted at No.

2 on album chart. The El Rey gig proved the Shins have a lot of love for New Mexico: it felt less like the bold return of the conquering heroes and more like buddies coming home from college and throwing a big party. The group always seems to have a good time in concert very few musicians actually appear to enjoy being in a rock band as much as these guys. They joked with the crowd, talked up how happy they were to be there, and bounced around the stage with kids-at-Christmas grins. The show opened with first four songs, and after the lead number, the performance felt a little off.

Maybe the band was exhausted after the three-month media-and-touring blitz surrounding the release (and having returned from Europe days before the Albuquerque show). It took several songs to get the right sound mix. Maybe there were some hometown jitters; maybe the band is still breaking in the new songs. However, about 30 minutes in, the musicians were locked into a groove and the performance took flight, highlighted by the countryesque for the note-perfect pop of on and a new, almost Neil Young-like arrangement for Is Mercer usually tucks himself to the side of the stage during concerts, delegating bandleading duties to extroverted multi-instrumentalist Marty Crandall. This time, however, Mercer was front and center.

In the studio, the Shins favor crisp production values and perfectionist-level musicianship, but the band members play it a bit more fast and loose in concert. This is not to say they are sloppy in fact, the jangly guitars and the swinging rhythm section bring out a more classic rock sound. You have to listen closely to hear it on the records, but it blossoms in a live setting and suits them nicely. They also played a straightforward take on Pink heavy, psychedelic unusual to hear the Shins play a cover song, but possible the group opted to play it that night because of the lyrics: home like to be here when I Judging from the eardrum-bursting applause from the sold-out crowd (why more A-list indie bands stop in New everyone likes them to be here when they can. Benziker 10 April 20 26, 2007 Photos Tina Larkin The singer-songwriter-guitarist James Mercer Inset, Bassist-guitarist Dave Hernandez THETRADERS COLLECTION CoinEdgeBracelet CoinSilverandTurquoiseca.1920 FromtheDonTannerCollection, FourthgenerationIndianTrader 620OldSantaFeTr.

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