For a girl who was only familiar with Jimmy Eat World’s song “The Middle,” there was much more I would’ve rather been doing last Monday night than going to their concert.
But, later that night, my entire mood changed when the band rocked The Mill & Mine with an incredible 25-song set.
The night began with AJJ, the opening band, whose humorous and truthful pop-folk songs made the crowd laugh and dance simultaneously. You could tell the band was having a good time, which in turn led to the crowd having a fun, light time as well. And, if you weren’t, AJJ singer Sean Bonnette had some advice for those in attendance.
“That’s okay. Just drink a beer, talk to friends. You do you,” Bonnette yelled into the mic.
AJJ’s light-hearted outfit with a goofy frontman and not-so-light-hearted lyrics set the tone for the rest of the show.
Jimmy Eat World, with two strobe streetlights at each end of the stage, continued the vibe put in place by the openers. The 23-year-old band brought out an older crowd, with the exception of a 10-year-old who rocked out near me. Each person, no matter the age, surprisingly raged their hearts out until the end of the night.
The Arizona-based band began with hard alternative rock hits whose bass drums shook my heart in my chest — in the best way.
Since the set list was 25 songs long, it dragged a bit during the middle of the show, when the slower, less familiar songs lulled on. However, the band turned the mood around again when they jammed to newer tunes from their 2016 album “Integrity Blues,” which had the entire crowd yelling with fists raised in the air.
The band’s ninth and newest album has been called “Jimmy Eat World’s best record since ‘Bleed American,’” by Pitchfork. While it proves to be more on the alternative rock side than their quintessential emo sound that old fans know and love, the crowd still sang, screamed and yelled along to the lyrics, new and old.
Jimmy Eat World had the crowd roaring from start to finish, especially when they left the stage.
When the band finished their final song and walked off, there was a thunderous, tenacious applause that did not stop until the band finally returned for an encore.
And, it wasn’t until the encore that they played “The Middle,” but it was an incredible experience to finally see the band’s breakthrough hit, now 16-years-old, live. I got to sing my heart out with a room full of people to everyone’s favorite 2000s jam, which was way better than anything else I could have been doing on a Monday night.
Jim Adkins, lead guitarist and vocalist of Jimmy Eat World.
