WaSHINgton, D.C.

D.C. = Docile Crowd?

The Shins played DAR Constitution Hall last night, performing to a sold out, but rather tame, crowd of DC hipsters.

Aptly opening with "Sleeping Lessons," the first track off their most recent album, Wincing the Night Away, the band tried to get the audience into the show early. Since the venue is an all-seater, the crowd had to be implored to stand and get into the groove. This led to the awkwardness of some sections standing, some sitting, and some complaining either way. One positive result of this was clearly hearing the band, especially singer James Mercer's voice, in the better-than-advertised acoustics of Constitution Hall.

After all was said and done, the Shins played 18 songs (a 70-minute, 16 song set and then a two song encore). The setlist mostly comprised of their two most recent albums, Wincing the Night Away and Chutes Too Narrow. They did sneak in earlier tracks "Caring is Creepy," "Know Your Onion!," and "New Slang."

Although the performance made me more appreciative of the new album, the real highlights of the show were almost exclusively songs from their second album, Chutes Too Narrow. The Shins nailed a more aggressive version of "Saint Simon" and "Turn a Square" pleased the crowd more than any other.

It seems the band has two strengths in their live show. First, getting into the zone in some songs and rocking out, as evident in their cover of Modern Lover's "Someone I Care About." The other is the thought-provoking lyrics in slower songs, as heard in "A Comet Appears," the Wincing closer.

The between song banter was mostly filled with references to American history, you know, because nothing ever happens in DC unrelated to government/history/politics. Even still, the band missed so many puns, (Daughters of the American RevoluSHIN, ConstituSHIN Hall, WaSHINgton, D.C.) that I don't think I'll ever forgive them.

Probably wouldn't matter anyway, since they'd be lost on the emoSHINless crowd.

Setlist
01. Sleeping Lessons
02. Australia
03. Pam Berry/Phantom Limb
04. Kissing the Lipless
05. Mine's Not a High Horse
06. Girl Inform Me
07. Girl on the Wing
08. New Slang
09. Saint Simon
10. Turn on Me Girl Sailor
11. Turn a Square
12. Gone for Good
13. A Comet Appears
14. Turn on Me
15. Know Your Onion!
16. Caring is Creepy
__
17. Someone I Care About (Modern Lovers Cover)
18. So Says I

Thanks to DCist.com for helping me finish the setlist.

Foo for the Soul (City)

Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters played an all-acoustic show at DAR Constitution Hall last night that surpassed all of my lofty expectations. I'm a sucker for the Foo Fighters and for acoustic rock, so there was a lot to live up to. The entire show was truly excellent. Any doubts that I had about the band playing acoustic or Dave's "YEAH! WHOO! C'MON!" vocals were put to rest by the opening song, "Razor." One of the stand outs on the acoustic disc from In Your Honor, the song sounded absolutely beautiful with Dave playing solo. It has a really mellow vibe that set the stage for the rest of the night.

My first concert ever was seeing the Foo Fighters play a free show at Tower Records in Rockville, MD in 1997. This show couldn't match that in terms of sheer awe, but I did get goosebumps a few times throughout the performance. One of those times was hearing "Marigold" as a lead-in to "My Hero." Hearing two of my favorite Foo tracks played back-to-back was surreal.

Dave was very chatty the whole night. He's always had a great sense of humor and it was awesome to hear him tell stories. The "Hold on! You forgot your jumbos!" story as an intro to the b-side "Skin and Bones" was a great way to add some local flavor to the homecoming show. Dave also told a great story about Kurt and Chris before playing "Friend of a Friend." Very cool.

The setlist was what I expected. They played just about every song off of the acoustic disc of the new album, a lot of their hits ("Everlong," "Times Like These," "Walking After You," "February Stars," "See You," and "Floaty") and only one rarity, the aforementioned "Skin and Bones."

The band played for more than an hour and a half, but the show never dragged. There was a healthy mix of solo stuff mixed in with a full band performance. Dave started a few songs solo and finished them with the band, which worked really well on "Times Like These" and "Everlong." The backing band was incredible, with Taylor Hawkins rocking out the whole time and Pat Smear staying chill as ever. The keyboardist from the Wallflowers and the violinist/singer Petra both stood out, as well.

Long story short, the Foo Fighters still put on a kick-ass show almost ten years after I first saw them. The acoustic tour is still in the beginning stage, so if you get a chance to see them do not pass it up.