The Shins Entertainment Art The Congress Theater Chicago, Ill. February 10, 2007

The Portland-based indie-pop band recorded its new Wincing the Night Away as a four piece with the core group of Marty Crandall, Dave Hernandez, James Mercer and Jesse Sandoval. This line-up has built a massive following after gelling on 2003’s Chutes Too Narrow and getting a boost from the inclusion of the song “New Slang” (from 2001’s debut LP Oh, Inverted World) in the hit film Garden State. Now that The Shins are riding high on the success of Wincing the Night Away, which debuted at number two on the Billboard album charts, one can’t blame them for shaking things up a little by opening up the fold to include mutli-intrumentalist Eric Johnson, formerly of the Fruit Bats. However, the now five-piece sounded a bit under-rehearsed at a sold-out Congress as some 4,000 bodies crammed together on the main floor, an impossibility no more than a month earlier when rows of seats took up valuable real estate, thus limiting the capacity of the venue. Attending this sold-out show at the new Congress meant longer lines for the bathrooms and for drinks, and if you wanted to sit then you had to hike up to the balcony with the old folks. Financial progress for the venue’s owner equals sacrifice for his guests, no doubt.

Still, the night offered its share of highlights. The band emerged to the subdued opening strains of Wincing’s lead track, “Sleeping Lessons,” and took the song to a full gallop with a noticeably self-assured Mercer out front and firmly in control. Past tours found the group’s leader giving up the spotlight to his band mates, which gave the impression of The Shins as a band in the truest sense—a democratic unit with a shared objective. Mercer also shined brightly on the lilting new single “Phantom Limb” and was thrilling on the bouncy, mod highlight “Turn a Square.” An encore take on “So Says I” was nothing short of thrilling for all five men on stage. And while new recruit Johnson added some beautiful lap steel to a lullaby take on “Kissing the Lipless,” he was out of sync with his band mates elsewhere, the odd man out to Mercer’s forceful front man.

Perhaps it will take some time for the new line-up to tighten things up. There were far too many songs that were either rough around the edges (“Australia”), far too tentative (a stripped down “New Slang”) or just plain off the mark (what was with the electronic squeals on the otherwise stately “Mine’s Not a High Horse”?

The Shins are a gripping band on record and will hopefully be just as exciting live as they continue to tour. The Congress Theater, on the other hand, promises only to keep the bodies crowded tightly together and the lines crawling at a snail’s pace. How’s that for progress?

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