Show Review

Sadly, this was only my third time seeing the wonderful Jimmy Eat World. Much like many of my friends, I’ve been a fan of this band since I’ve enjoyed music, riding them out when they received mainstream success (“Bleed American”) and mainstream failure (“Futures”). I can honestly say I love every thing this band has done from their inception, and always have had fun seeing them live.

When Jim Adkins and his acoustic guitar took the stage, I kind of figured he’d start the night off with a soft note. They played a few crowd favorites, and next thing you know a third of their set was over—all with Jim playing acoustic. I became increasingly frustrated as he seemed to be in a very mellow mood, playing acoustic versions of almost all of the songs, including a couple of my favorite jams (“On A Sunday,” “Table For Glasses”). The songs, to be blunt, sounded empty and weak at best. Several of us in the crowd were filled with anticipation that was not-to-be-filled as the band played mostly slow, atmospheric material.

As they played “23” (one of my favorite songs) I recalled being at a show on their last tour, where Adkins was covered in sweat as they played almost all of their singles and fast, rocking jams. At that point in time, I had certainly wished they would play at least one or two of their drone-ish, mellow jams, but on this evening at The Gothic I wanted them to play anything that was not mellow.

By the end of the set I was practically filled with boredom. My anxiety throughout the set probably made it worse—I kept hoping and thinking, “They’re gonna play some fast, rocking songs soon.”

I guess I just caught them on a mellow night—and while their set list was quite awesome, it just wasn’t that enthralling with an acoustic guitar. Still, Adkins and company really know what they’re doing, and that was especially made obvious (ironically) with the fact that you could really hear how easily and fully Adkins is able to sing. Even their backing vocalist (Tom Linton) was spot-on with almost every melody, and though this was a mellow night and not really what I was hoping to see, Jimmy Eat World still maintain the fact (in their old age) that they are one of the most unshaken, solid bands in the scene to this day. If you haven’t seen them yet, I don’t know what’s wrong with you—get to one of their shows.

review by Andrew Martin