Not by the hair on my shinny, shin shin.

Subject partially cribbed from Connie, who dragged me kicking and screaming to the Shins show at the Warfield last night.

OK, far from kicking and screaming. But I hadn't planned on going, only because I saw them for a brief set at the Download Festival and I also saw them for a very brief (and free!) set at Easy Street Records earlier this year and I'm also trying to be more cautious about money these days. But since I'd never seen a full show I figured, what the hey.

(Digression. Anyone with an extra Decemberists ticket for next week should disregard all previous comments and invite me immediately. End of digression.)

After a couple of drinks and a great Indian meal we wandered down to the Warfield. Timing couldn't have been more perfect - about 10 minutes after we sat down, the Shins came on stage. And then THEY ARRIVED.

I don't know what it is about me and the Warfield. The past three times I have had a seat in the balcony, I have had a chatty Cathy who praised my aloneness, an old man who kept falling on me due to his self-explained reliance on prescription drugs, and a couple who snorted coke and then made out (lather rinse repeat) during the entire show. (I think those last two were pre-blog. The old man incident occured at a Pretenders show - which is probably to be expected - but the cokehead makeout couple was at a Counting Crows show. Counting Crows? COKE? REALLY? I must have missed something in my appreciation for that band.)

The Shins were no exception. About 2 songs into the set, a couple sat down in the seats (providing at least 6 more inches leg room) directly in front of Connie and myself. (Did I mention that the legroom in our purchased seats was worse than Southwest's used to be? Yeah, it was that bad.) These folks proceeded to bob and sway and TALK TALK TALK and bob and sway and generally make it difficult to see or hear the band for about 15 minutes.

Now. Mind you, I've been trying to actively work on what I call my "people patience" - patience for people who, in my mind, are stupid idiots who care nothing about the entire universe that exists outside their own head - so I thought it was just me. Oh, no. Around song three of their arrival, Connie tapped me on the shoulder and whispered, "those people are annoying the HELL out of me."

THANK GOD. It wasn't just me.

Shortly thereafter, they snuck down to the general admission area to annoy those unfortunate people, and upon realizing this (thanks, house lights!) Con and I moved down a row to sit in their luxuriously leg-roomy seats. At that point, I totally relaxed and was able to enjoy the wonderfulness that is the Shins. And then? When their first song in the encore was a cover of Breathe in the Air? I could not have been happier about my $40 ticket purchase.

For long you live and high you fly
But only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave
You race towards an early grave.