On July 18th, 2022, the Shins celebrated the 21st anniversary of their debut album, Oh, Inverted World at the Orpheum Theatre. They were accompanied by Joseph, a folk-pop trio from Portland who showed up as a duo with a third member out sick. It was a night of genuine excitement from the audience, who hardly slowed down through the entire show, and in fact, mostly stayed on their feet for the duration.
Opening acts are always an interesting concept, and contrary to what one may think, there is a wide variety in both quality and style. One might think that opening acts would typically reveal a high degree of nervousness and extreme focus on avoiding any mistakes in exchange for some degree of tightness and distance from the audience that a more experienced band would be able to avoid. However, oftentimes the opposite is true, in which the opening act is more relaxed than the established main act, and seems to be less worried about being perfect.
The opening band, Joseph, is a great example of this style. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from their set is their comfort with the audience, as if their metaphorical artistic eyes were aimed right at the listeners instead of up into some more abstract plane like an aloof Bob Dylan might do, or at each other like the Beatles.
Typically, Joseph is a folk trio, but with one of the sisters out of the lineup, the duo’s sound was centered around a clean tone on the rhythm guitar undergirding a two-part vocal harmony. Also prominent was the use of what seemed like a stomp box: a pedal that creates a bass drum-like sound. In combination, the sound was as much folk as pop-rock, especially given that more of the 45-minute set featured electric guitar than acoustic.
Their sound, unlike many bands, clearly centers on placing their vocals in front, and not hiding them behind further instrumentation. Joseph’s vocals are extremely tight, and the timbre of their voices is reminiscent of many “Hotel Cafe” type female artists, where a degree of professionality is immediately present the moment the singing begins. Another common feature between many songs— that more than once led to raucous audience applause—was a buildup to a belted high-note near the end of the songs.
Joseph can be applauded for reaching for metaphor and imagery in their lyrics. For example, one song featured the memorable line, “I thought I was the light switch you left on/I am the sun.” This is a line that reaches beyond much of modern popularmusic in the direction of poetry, or the folk and country tradition. At the same time, it straddles that line and doesn’t reach too far, and so for a lyrically-minded audience member, they may sometimes fall short in complexity.
With more complexity comes more risk of alienating a broader audience, and certain artists toggle along that spectrum. On the one end is a Bob Dylan or Townes Van Zandt, who are in some ways more cult figures than mainstream stars, and on the other end are pure pop artists like Nicki Minaj and Cardi B. Somewhere in the middle, perhaps along some sort of sweet spot between accessibility and depth are groups like Joseph and The Shins.
Between the performance and the loose and casual energy, the audience appeared receptive. Casualness can sometimes cross the line into overfriendliness, and there were moments of that during the set, where the production element was somewhat lost and the interaction went a bit too far. However, it might be better than the alternative: younger opening acts being overly timid and uncomfortable, which an audience naturally picks up on.
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The transition to the main act was marked by giant blue lights that diffused through the fog machine. Interestingly, from the moment the Shins stepped on stage, one could notice less of an explicit regard toward the audience, as if they’ve done this a million times and could do it in their sleep. The same expertise was apparent from the first note, which sounded just like a studio recording, with the exception of the vocals being a bit harder to make out.
Early in the show, the drummer appeared to cut himself on something, perhaps on the cymbals, and began to bleed all over his all-white outfit. His wife ran out onstage to bring him some bandages and all seemed to go smoothly for the rest of the show.
The Shins’ sound consists of a simple, heavy bass and drum, with an indie-rock vocal. Within the first few songs, the entire audience stood up starting with the front rows, leaving little logistic choice but for the rest of the audience to stand as well. Essentially the entire audience remained standing throughout the next hour and more.
One of the unique elements of The Shins’ sound was the use of the violin, or fiddle, in certain songs, such as the track “Fear” released in 2017. Amidst the dense instrumentation, both in the studio version and the live version, certain key phrases jump out, like “passed another pointless year, foaming at the mouth.” Again, it was unfortunate that some of the lyrics, whether it was a result of the instrumentation or the mix, did not come through as clearly as certain phrases.
Like Joseph, The Shins’ lyrical style walks the line between accessible but potentially trite and ambitious but potentially alienating. “She shone up bright like a knife, wearing tennis shorts made of stripes,” the song begins, bringing originality and imagery to a relatable situation in seeing someone attractive. The next line is even more daring in leaning toward intellectual humor over pure popular entertainment, “just a glimpse of an ankle and I react like it’s 1805.” These lyrics are a lost gem among the memorable hooks and guitar riffs in much of the Shins catalog.
Interestingly, it was this very song, “Turn the Square” that stood out for the audience, even if not primarily due to the lyrics. Instead, it was immediately clear that this track was not off the debut album. Instead, this song was centered around a boogie, classic rock-style guitar riff, which seemed like a throwback to the ’50s and ’60s Kinks influence.
After celebrating the 21st anniversary of their Oh, Inverted World album, they jumped into more recent hits. This final section of the show resulted in some of the strongest moments overall, when the increased variety of songs released since Oh, Inverted World was refreshing for the audience’s ears.
The audience got exactly what they wanted at this show, and maybe more. Standing throughout the entirety of The Shins’ main set, and showing great warmth towards the openers, Joseph, the Oh, Inverted World album’s 18th birthday party was a fun night for everybody.
Photo Credit: Brett Padelford, taken at Arroyo Seco Music Festival, 2017.
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