Jimmy Eat World = Jimmy Rocks World at the Commodore

There are clearly more than a couple die-hard Jimmy Eat World fans in Vancouver and those fans left sweaty and happy at the end of the night. I clearly thought they were a little more niche, but the Commodore Ballroom was nearly packed for the 24 year veterans of college alternative rock. Jimmy Eat World has built a following, and they have followed. Openers Beach Slang did exactly what you’d hope your opener to do – rev up the crowd. The Philadelphia foursome surprised many, but lost no-one in their ripping 45 minutes. They have energy, humility and a good dose of humour. The latter was well on display by their front-man referring to himself as essentially “Jack White had sex with a happy Billy Corgan with hair”. His words – not mine. They ended their set with a spot on, amazing performance of The Pixies‘ “Where is my mind?”

Jimmy Eat World was on fire for their set – completely in tune, in sync and full of energy. They are conservative of on-stage movement, but three songs in and lead singer, Jim Adkins’ shirt was more sweat than fabric. They alternate seamlessly between their spacey, trippy, slower songs and their ripping, punk, high energy stuff. They mixed songs from all their albums, heavily leaning on Bleed American, (my favourite) Futures and the new one, Integrity Blues. The new stuff is very reminiscent of their old, so it’s very catchy and easy for long term fans like me to get into. Their sound was also so excellent that you could make out every word and sing along by the second chorus, even if you’d never heard the song before.

The show was light on effects, just a straight-up rock and roll show – just the way I like it. They play with intensity, despite the lack of jumping around on stage. It was felt and appreciated by the crowd during their ode to lost youth, “23” and the rip-roaring “Authority Song”. The “Work/Pain” (pun intended, likely by them, as well) medley worked the crowd into a proper froth towards the end…well, the pre-encore end, anyway. There was never really a doubt about it – the fans were pumped and rocking, the band was in perfect form, oh and they hadn’t played “The Middle” yet. They opened the encore with it to mass appeal and mild moshing and ended the night a few songs later with the joyous crowd echoing back “Sweetness” before spilling into the spring night satiated.

Overall it was another great rock show – no frills, no gimmicks, no B.S. Just two excellent rock bands plying their trade, sharing their love of music with old fans and new fans alike. I am an old fan of Jimmy Eat World and a new fan of Beach Slang. I am also a new fan of new Jimmy Eat World, I’d only heard the lead track, but I’m very impressed with everything I heard. Jimmy Eat World? More like Jimmy Rocks World – mine for one night, at least.

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written by Chris van Staalduien
@cvaninvan Twitter