Jimmy Eat WorldTrophy Eyes thrashed into our Wednesday evening, bringing with them high energy, crisp melodies and hard-hitting bass and drums. There were some fans in the house singing and headbanging along. Heaven Sent went down a treat and the crowd felt thoroughly warmed up for Jimmy Eat World.
Despite being more than 20 years into their career, the five-piece have the energy and humbleness of a band fresh into their first tour run but play with the gravitas and stamina of one that clearly still love what they do. Their set was well-paced - it had to be, clocking in at just under two hours and including over 20 songs - beginning nice and easy with You With Me.
Jimmy Eat World may not be showing their age, but the crowd certainly were and it seemed they weren't feeling too rowdy for a Wednesday night. Thankfully, a few songs in, Bleed American kicked it up a notch and everyone revelled in the chance to scream, "Sugar on the asphalt!" before returning to their mostly composed positions.
Just Tonight saw another wave of crowd excitement and everyone pulled out their phones to capture proof that Jimmy Eat World can still shred. They followed this up with Blister and A Praise Chorus, further proving the band's worth and how many long-time fans there were in the room. Just when we thought they had given it all, they whipped out an epic finale - 23, Work, Pain - before taking a much-deserved respite.
As expected, The Middle was saved for the encore and an epic sing/scream-along ensued. Surprisingly, Sure And Certain got quite a response, but this was surpassed by Sweetness - one of many songs that will surely outlive Jimmy Eat World's career (not that they show any signs of slowing down).
