The Shins @ Maverik Center 09.15.2026

Photo: Travis Ockey

Concert

The other night, I “just happened” to find myself hanging out at Weezer’s 2026 “The Gathering” tour. I totally was not planning to be right in that spot for months to be able to see the return of a legendary artist. That artist is none other than James Mercer. You may know him from the collaboration duo with producer Danger Mouse known as Broken Bells or maybe even the 90s Albuquerque band Flake Music, but you most likely know him from the legendary band The Shins.

Mercer is someone who really puts his money where his mouth is when it comes to the term singer-songwriter. As a singer, he has an exceptional voice. He could be complementing country-dominant instruments while singing of his love troubles, sounding like he could be recording live on horseback, exploring waves of grain on something like “Gone For Good.” Maybe he sounds like your only contact to Earth, reaching you by radio waves as you drift aimlessly to space on the intro of “Sleeping Lessons.” Sometimes he sounds like how you’d think a ghost of a person to sing, before snapping back to his normal voice on something like “Port of Morrow.” He really can do it all as a vocalist. As a songwriter, he’s just as good.

As a super small kid, I remember my grandma reading me all sorts of classic folktales, whether it was Goldilocks, Jack and the Beanstalk, Icarus flying to the sun or Rumpelstiltskin. They all had very imaginative, meaningful writing, filled with metaphors and stories you could take away your own meaning from.

Now, this is obviously a pretty common theme for most stories, but there is just something about those stories specifically that is so simple and easy to understand but can convey a lot with a little. One modern-day poet that I would say can go toe to toe with the writing from these folktales is none other than who this article is all about. Mercer himself said it best on “Young Pilgrims” where he writes: “Of course I was raised to gather courage from those lofty tales so tried and true / But if you’re able, I suggest it ‘cause this modern thought can get the best of you.”

To me, this line hits home and reminds me of stories my grandma would read me, and it makes me wonder if it made me a more creative person, because it sure made Mercer one. His words can paint scenes and ideas and worlds as effortlessly as all these classic folktales do. There are details he slips into his lines that are hard to catch unless you really let yourself drift into a daydream as you listen to what he has to say.

Now, before this turns into a semester course on the history of James Mercer, I’ll talk about the show. Man, what a show! James is not at all new on the scene, especially having a band before The Shins, which itself formed before the turn of the millennium. There’s a lot of artists out there who (understandably) choose to move away from working themself weak to keep their musical abilities FULLY in tune as they get older. And I can’t lie, I have to say I was curious if coming off the five year hiatus The Shins had assumed (since the 20th birthday of their first studio album), this would be the case. The answer was immediately clear to me about five words into “Simple Song,” which happened to be the opener.

I was floored being close to the speakers, hearing how crisp and clear his voice was the second he approached the microphone. The setlist was amazing, featuring all the classics you could reasonably fit into an opening set. The fact they had someone to cover every instrument on stage was a huge bonus as well. They really did an amazing job of practically recreating point blank studio sessions of these songs, whether it was the perfect background vocals, the drummer being a human metronome or even the keyboard player whipping out the violin out of nowhere for my personal favorite Shins track, “Saint Simon.” By the way, if you ever have the chance to see these guys live, the way they harmonize the vocals on “Saint Simon” is absolutely incredible, especially considering that the band lineup has changed a good bit since the release of Chutes Too Narrow.

Anyways, the return of James Mercer was something I feel incredibly lucky to have captured, and I’m counting down the days until I can manage to see The Shins again, and you should too. –Travis Ockey

Photos of Weezer: