Photo: WENN.com
“It’s always special playing Brixton Academy,” beams Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins, “and tonight is the best yet.”
It’s easy to believe it. From the minute that they took the stage and launched into ‘I Will Steal You Back’ to ‘The Middle’ as the inevitable final song of the encore, Jimmy Eat World had the crowd in the palm of their emo hands, and they certainly didn’t seem to be taking it for granted.
It definitely says something when a band has been around for 20 years, more or less - they released their first demo tape in ‘93, although their debut album wasn’t released until the following year - and still manage to garner such a reception from their fans, both new and old. ‘Damage’ gets almost as strong of a reaction as ‘Sweetness’, but it’s ‘Blister’ which really stands out as the overall highlight of the night.
It takes ‘A Praise Chorus’ to really kick things up, with the crowd turning into a seething mass of dancing fans, unable to stand still from the barrier back to the bar. The band also dip into their oeuvre to share a rare performance of ‘Polaris’, and there is of course the requisite - almost reverent - silence for ‘Hear You Me’. Somehow, the song manages to never lose its stunning effect, no matter how often it’s heard.
Despite the fact that they played The Forum only two weeks earlier, there’s nothing repetitive or predictable about the setlist tonight (except, of course, that they play the hits). And it’s a delight that newer tracks such as ‘No, Never’ and ‘I Will Steal You Back’ gain such a roar from the crowd, although it’s admittedly overshadowed when they launch into fan favourites, such as ‘Sweetness’, ‘Salt Sweat Sugar’ and ‘The Authority Song’.
Sometimes a band’s newer material can seem ‘lesser’ than their older songs, particularly when the older music is so well known. With Jimmy Eat World, though, if someone didn’t already know which the older songs were then it would be almost impossible to tell - nothing sounds dated or repetitive, and each track continues to to have a different angle and feel than the one before. There’s a reason, after all, that Brixton Academy is packed to the rafters.
And the band seem just as happy to be there as the fans, if not more at times. Frontman Jim Adkins gives two earnest speeches about how much playing Brixton - and the support from fans - means to them, and manages to sound like he means it each time. Jimmy Eat World make a promise to be back soon as they leave and, honestly? They can’t return soon enough.
Jimmy Eat World played:
I Will Steal You Back
Big Casino
My Best Theory
Appreciation
Your New Aesthetic
Lucky Denver Mint
A Praise Chorus
Hear You Me
Book of Love
Futures
Polaris
Work
You Were Good
Heart Is Hard to Find
Damage
Let It Happen
Pain
Blister
No, Never
Always Be
The Authority Song
Sweetness
Bleed American
Encore:
Chase This Light
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The Middle
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