en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices http://www.last.fm/user/PaulsCollection/journal The Last.fm journal for PaulsCollection. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. http://www.last.fm/user/PaulsCollection/journal/2012/03/24/5dyeku_kick_in_the_shins Sat, 24 Mar 2012 22:45:16 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/PaulsCollection/journal/2012/03/24/5dyeku_kick_in_the_shins Fri 23 Mar – ATP Presents: The Shins + Clinic

Clinic supporting The Shins? A surprising choice to many at the show. It seemed like it was a surprise to even Clinic. The audience was of a varied age range (teenagers to 40+) but no-one seemed to be there for Clinic.

I enjoyed their set depsite the chatter from the crowd. They received little or no response to every song they played. Clinic seemed to realise they were fighting a losing battle almost as soon as they began. There was little communication with the audience but the majority weren't listening anyway. May seemed to mentally switch off within two songs of their set. I heard comments such as "who are they?" and "Didn't they just play this?"

The Shins are in all essence, indie-pop. The majority of their audience would never willingly listen to an act such as Clinic. I hope they did pick up some new fans from this. They used the set to test out material from their upcoming album. I'm not sure if this should have been saved for an environment containing more of their fans. However, I hope it proved valuable to Clinic.

The Shins were polished. This is unsurprising due to the length of time they've existed and the lack of material they've released.

I have to say that on listening to the new album, I was less than impressed. I was disappointed that they'd taken so long to produce, in my opinion, their worst album. I gor the feeling that I wasn't the only member of the crowd with that opinion. I was interested to see how these new tracks would work in a live environment.

The crowd cheered every familiar song but were sometimes muted when new tracks were played. Some of the new album seems to go nowhere. You feel like you're waiting for a chorus that never arrives. These songs didn't work in the live environment. They were played more than competently but just didn't have the weight to pull it off.

However, some of the new tracks really did shine in a live environment. This was due to more reliance on guitars. The guitar has ad in my opinion, always will, druve a song by The Shins. On hearing these songs live, it showed me what a mistake had been made with the production on the new album. On the album. the tracks lack drive or purpose as the gutars are too low under the track. In a live environment, the guitar seems to engage the track and the audience.

The Shins played a lot of fan favourites mixed with the new album. The band seemed to lack confidence with the new tracks and how they would be received. They seemed unwilling to play too much of the new record, in a row. Some of the crowd seemed to pick up on this with shouts of "Play the old stuff!" and "Play faster!".

I think the band converted the majorityof any critics for the new album. I admit that the album is now more satisfying due to me hearing it live.

For the encore, I was eager to see if they'd finish with an old track or a new one. The second song into the encore was an extended version of the new album's title track. It was played brilliantly and ended with a flourish. The audience reacted highly positively and I hoped that the lights would go up and they'd be rewarded for their bravery. However, they decided to finish with an 'oldie'.

Overall, it was a great performance from the guys but they did to believe in the new album more, if they want the fans to as well.]]>