Concert Review: Jimmy Eat World

Jimmy Eat World
February 14th
Club Zoo, Pittsburgh, PA

Well, it was a night of firsts.  It was the first time I was able to see Jimmy Eat World live, and it was also the first time I’ve ever seen a concert at Club Zoo.  I arrived in the Strip District around 6:30 to see a line down the street and around the block.  I figured I would pick up my Will Call tickets and then hang out around the Strip until closer to showtime.  Unfortunately, the Will Call table is inside the venue and tickets are not available until the doors open for the night.  Instead of waiting in the rain/snow/sleet/misery mix that was pouring from the sky at the time, I decided to meet up with some friends at Rolands in the Strip for some food and pre-show libations.  Finally, at around 8, we headed back to the venue to find a spot and catch a bit of the opening band before Jimmy took the stage.

We got our tickets, and entered the Club, and instantly I knew it was going to be a “difficult” venue.  The place was already jammed back to the doors and the sight lines were terrible.  If you’ve never been to Club Zoo before, it’s obvious that it’s a club first, concert venue second.  The main floor is quite small and cramped, and outside of that, viewing options are limited to various balconies on the second floor.  Speaking of the balconies, despite already paying 30 dollars a ticket, if you wanted to go upstairs to watch the show, it was an additional 10 dollars for the “VIP level”.  Seeing that we weren’t going to see or hear much on the first level, we paid the extra cash and headed upstairs.  The sight lines upstairs were not much better as the prime viewing spots were already well picked over.  The one major benefit was that the crowds were much lighter upstairs and it was much easier to move around.  My only complaint about the upstairs level is the lack of restrooms.  In order to use the restroom, you had to go back downstairs and fight through a very tightly packed crowd to the one set of restrooms on the other side of the venue.

Ok, enough about the venue.  Let’s get to the music.  I must admit, I didn’t hear much of the opener, David Bazan.  What I heard wasn’t bad, but I can’t give a firm opinion.  (EDIT:  My friend Nate just reminded me that Bazan founded Pedro The Lion, a band I used to be into several years ago… I never made the connection last night.  Whoops)  When we first walked in, he was doing a duet with the lead singer of Jimmy Eat World, and the harmonies sounded solid, but again, I can’t say too much as we were working our way around the maze of Club Zoo at the time looking for a spot for the main act.  And what a main act it was.  I have been a fan of Jimmy for well over 10 years.  I started listening to them when Clarity was released, and have been a fan since then.  I just have never had the opportunity to see them live.   Luckily, that changed last night.

The set kicked off with A Praise Chorus from Bleed American and then went directly into My Best Theory from their newest album Invented.  Both these songs are full of energy and were a great start to the show.  From there the set spanned nearly the entire Jimmy Eat World discography.   Songs were played from 6 of the band’s 7 releases.  The only album not represented was their 1994 self-titled record.  The band kept up great energy from front to back, despite the crowd being rather mild mannered throughout the entire show.  The highlights for me were Big Casino, Evidence, Pain, Goodbye Sky Harbor, and of course the encore-ending The Middle and Sweetness.

The sound, while a bit quiet in the venue, was excellent.  The band is still spot on with their harmonies, and lead singer, Jim Adkins, has as powerful of a voice as ever.  The instrument blend was good, and I never felt like the band overpowered the vocals.  Courtney Marie Andrews, who appears on the band’s newest album, provided a nice female counterpart on several songs and just added to the full sound that the band already has.

In conclusion, the concert was excellent.  Jimmy Eat World is still going strong, and musically left nothing to be desired at the end of the night.  They played their hearts out, and everyone who I spoke to were ecstatic about the song choices and energy of the show.  Unfortunately, the venue they played left me feeling frustrated that I couldn’t enjoy the show more.  Despite that, I am still incredibly glad that I finally got the chance to see them live.  I only took one picture during the concert and I had to hold the camera precariously above my head and use 3x zoom to get a decent frame on the stage.  So please, forgive the graininess.  Try to think of it as a “rock and roll” feel to the picture.

Setlist:
A Praise Chorus
My Best Theory
Coffee and Cigarettes
Lucky Denver Mint
Let It Happen
Thinking, That’s All
Polaris
Futures
Big Casino
Dizzy
Action Needs An Audience
Pain
23
Evidence
For Me This Is Heaven
Hear You Me
Work
Blister
Goodbye Sky Harbor

Encore:
Invented
The Middle
Sweetness

The Rhythm Of Life…

I have always loved music.  Anyone who has spent any time of my 27 year existence with me knows this.  At any point in my life, I can find a song or band that has propelled me through that moment.  When finding words to describe my feelings fail me, music has always been there.

These past 6 months have been no different.  Unfortunately, due to life circumstances the music that has carried me through this time is certainly not the most uplifting, happy music you have ever heard.  In fact, it’s quite the contrary.  There have been plenty of minor chords and angst filled lyrics that have littered the road I have walked over the past half of a year.

I must admit that I feel bad for many of my Pittsburgh friends who have met, and got to know me over the past few months.  You have seen a very different person than I would like to present to the world.  I’m sure you may have found traits that you find enjoyable, or things we have in common, but to be honest, I haven’t felt like myself in a very long time.  I have used a lot of distractions to keep my mind off of the life I am facing.  Some have been harmless, but others have been a bit more detrimental.  Several mornings have come where the memories of the previous night were all but a blur.  It’s in these moments that I realize that these temporary fixes aren’t bringing me a permanent solution to the problem.  I have been searching for anything to numb the pain of the reality of starting life over.  While some of these methods may “work” for a time, the damage they cause under the surface is much greater. The heart begins to harden, and the vibrant personality that lives underneath it all becomes callous and mundane.

Many of you have asked me lately why I’m not around as much.  First, please know it’s not because I don’t care about you (yinz). You have all been so supportive of me through all of this, and I am so thankful to you all.  The reality is, for several months, I lost track of the “music” of life.  Life used to be a brilliant symphony for me… lately, it has fallen into the faint sound of a child banging on a piano, desperately trying to put together a melody of any kind.

Over the past 2 weeks, I have begun to feel a passion for a full life once again.  A life that breaks the status quo.  One where I can break the ritual of a 24 hour carbon copy day that looks just like the last.  A life that is exciting, and has more for me than I could have ever imagined.  It will certainly take time to find my “symphony” again, and I am only finding the melody a day at a time.  There are still so many parts and intricate harmony lines to be found.  Hopefully I can discover this life with all of you, whom I care about so much.  I certainly can’t do it alone.

Luckily, that’s the beauty of a symphony.  One instrument can not play the entire piece.  Every part plays an important role.  To be honest, my faith teaches this very same thing about how we should all live and work together for a more perfect love and a greater life, but there’s no need to worry, I’m not going to start preaching right now.  As opposed to preaching from a “pulpit”, I’d rather live my life as the “instrument” that I feel I should be in this time and in this moment.  Perhaps in the chaos of life, some of you have lost track of what it means to join in this symphony of life. Perhaps the hurts and pains that life has dealt you have left you feeling rusty and meaningless.  If that is the case, I can only hope that perhaps my brief rambling tonight will ignite a desire to clean up your instrument a bit and join the wonderful music we can all make together.

And if you don’t like analogies… then first, I apologize for having to read through this all, second, have you considered that you possibly hate music? And finally, let me put it to you this way:

Thank you all for loving and caring for me through this very, VERY, difficult time.  I couldn’t do it without all of you, and I can’t do life from this point without you all either.  I hope we can all continue to walk through life together… wherever it may lead us all.