As we entered the new millennium, Emo began to make a breakthrough in its second wave and the lines with indie rock blurred at a new rate. There were certain bands that didn't sound like the Hot Topic crowds they influenced, but weren't as lo-fi as a lot of the bands they idolized. Jimmy Eat World were right on the fault lines in the early 2000s and their fourth album catapulted them into the stratosphere as torch bearers of whatever it was they were being called. Released twenty-five years ago this July, the record gained heavy rotation on rock radio and an instant classic music video got a lot of airplay on MTV. There was also a time after September 11, when they had to remove the actual name Bleed American from the album cover due to the thought of it being un-American! It also got them a spot in the opening slot for the Pop Disaster tour starring pop-punk legends of the time and forever Green Day and Blink 182. Standing apart from some of their so-called peers, Jimmy Eat World would ride the stature of their classic for over two decades and being able to see them play it from start to finish (the same week as my 20th high school reunion, no less) made for a nostalgia-heavy, but well received performance that cemented the album's well earned esteem as a defining record of the time. Instead of diving right into things, the band kicked off with a few of their other hits, opening with "Clarity" which had the crowd pumping with excitement. As soon as they hit the end of "Lucky Denver Mint," the first total crowd bop of the evening, they rang out the feedback, pulled away their back panels, and hit us with the opening riff of the title track to put things fully into gear. From those first few notes, the crowd was locked-in and ready to scream every word back to an un-aged Jim Adkins. The epic "whoa-oh-oh" cries in nearly every song was exhilarating and to be able to take it all in beneath the skyline of lower Manhattan always helps. "A Praise Chorus" was of course the perfect set-up for "track 3" as Adkins dubbed it, hearing it fall directly into the mental placement of the album's running order only magnified the experience of hearing such a generational anthem ring out with a few thousand people screaming along made "The Middle" one of the natural highlights of the while set. Of course "Sweetness" was only two numbers behind and unquestionably was the most surging song of the night, the band hitting on all cylinders as the ultimate "whoaaa" carried across the roof of the pier and over into the East River. To close out side one, the sullen "Hear You Me" put the crowd into a daze, some slow dancing with one another, while others embraced and possibly shed some tears, it was an emotional comedown and the segue into the next portion of the record that hit with more of a subdued callback towards the past. While many in attendance likely had an emotional connection to the record in some parts due to its association with youth and early teenage years we may romanticize about, it wasn't over the top and still felt just as engaging now as it did upon release. "The Authority Song" relit the flames one last time with its stomp and vigor before Adkins closed out the main set with "My Sundown." While the encore kept the night going for a handful of more tunes, including the rarity that was saved for the Japanese import of the record, "(Splash) Turn Twist," it was clear the night belonged to the record it was dedicated to and reliving the songs was a true highlight and joy to experience, flashbacks of all kind welcome and the most fond memories revisited one more time.
Set list:
02 "Believe in What You Want"
03 "Your New Aesthetic"
04 "Lucky Denver Mint"
05 "Bleed American"
06 "A Praise Chorus"
07 "The Middle"
08 "Your House"
09 "Sweetness"
10 "Hear You Me"
11 "If You Don't, Don't"
12 "Get It Faster"
13 "Cautioners"
14 "The Authority Song"
15 "My Sundown"
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16 "Disintegration"
17 "Pain"
18 "For Me This Is Heaven"
19 "(Splash) Turn Twist"
20 "23"
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