It was out of curiosity, mostly.
Originally, I had just wanted an interview with the band -- see what it was up to after all these years. When the publicity guy told me the band was holding off on doing interviews until the new record is out -- "Chases This Light" on Oct. 16 -- but that I could go review the show if I wanted, I wavered.
Having owned only two albums, I'll admit that I was never a megafan of Jimmy Eat World. It wasn't until I dug "Clarity" and "Bleed American" out of the catacombs of my often ignored, yet gargantuan CD collection and dedicated an entire afternoon's worth of driving to them that I realized a little nostalgia couldn't hurt. I committed myself to attending the sold-out Jimmy Eat World show at The Pabst.
The show opened with a very active -- almost twitchy -- Jim Adkins and guitarist Tom Linton alone on stage, harmonizing their way through a couple new, well-received songs. Midway through a "Bleed American" song, the curtain rose to reveal the drummer and bass player and the quartet was off and running through a rare set of signature quiet moments -- songs like "Table for Glasses," marked by patient build-ups and epic endings -- not often played live.
One thing I love about live performances is getting glimpses of bands and real people, rather than just delicate lyrical choices and hooky melodies. As a frontman, Adkins is a talker and it was hard to decipher whether or not his Milwaukee-related comments came from sincere inquiry or right out of his ass. When he randomly asked who Milwaukeeans backed -- the Packers or the Bears -- there was, naturally, an unintelligible uproar of boos and vulgarities, so much so that Adkins didn't appear to know where he'd gone wrong. He quickly dismissed the controversy with an unruffled, "I can't believe you guys give a f*ck about football. That's hilarious to me."
When he spoke again, he managed to questionably address the second most sacred of Milwaukee traditions.
"So this is The Pabst Theater? It's funny that they don't really sell any Pabst here."
A sea of Tallboys and scoffs shot up in the air. Whatever, dude.
Redemption came quickly, however, as shouts for "A Praise Chorus" resulted in his saying he wouldn't play the song without Davey -- Davey Von Bohlen of The Promise Ring, Milwaukee's claim to emo fame, sings backing vocals on the recorded version of the song. The words had barely escaped his mouth before the rest of the band began the song -- seemingly without his approval -- forcing him to start singing. He stumbled over the lyrics a bit, but he laughed his way through it and swung the microphone over the crowd for vocal support, a la Jon Bon Jovi.
The best part of the Jimmy Eat World 2007? It didn't ignore the older, less radio-friendly sector of its catalog -- something it easily could have done considering the amble airplay the band has gotten on commercial radio. Even the band's biggest single, "The Middle," was executed by an unplugged Adkins alone on stage and others, like "The Sweetness," were left out all together.
The worst part of Jimmy Eat World 2007? In my humble opinion, if songs like "Carry You" are any indication, the new material is headed down a dangerous path toward something reminiscent of easy listening. A decade after records like "Static Prevails" and "Clarity" helped define an exciting new genre of underground music, the band still crafts a great song -- it's just targeted at a pretty different audience.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
