The Shins Beat Out 50 Cent, Eminem, Fiona Apple & Bruce Springsteen. Hmm...

It's true. I've been lucky enough to see all of those acts perform over the past few days and I have to say The Shins put on the best show by far. By galaxies, in fact. It was a perfect situation. We didn't have to wait in line  thanks to our awesome #NikeFuelBands, so we had no problem making our way to the very front of the stage. We were so close, I could read their set list taped to the stage floor. In fact, we were so close, I couldn't get the whole band into one photo. And unlike our front row experience at 50 Cent/Eminem last night where we were pummeled with distortion, clowning and screaming, this one was sublime. The Shins really are the perfect band to be up close and personal with. There was no bullshit. No flash or pompous behavior to get everyone's attention like all the other acts (well, that's not fair to The Boss. He was awesome and humble but he only played a few songs. So he comes in a wrong 2nd best of SXSW). The Shins just calmly took the stage looking all mellow and hipster and with their hearts fully exposed, played all their best songs, including a few new ones from their upcoming album, to a crowd of just 300 loving fans who sang along to every word. It was as intimate as it could be. Best of all, we got to see their new guitarist, Jessica Dobson (Beck's ex-guitarist), in action. Cute, flippen fun and hella-talented, holy crap balls. Add to that their new drummer is Modest Mouse's very own Joe Plummer and we may have just experienced the perfect indie band ever. A fitting way to end our very first SXSW experience.