Images: Jimmy Eat World, Matt Pond PA September 25, 2013 at the House of Blues

It’s been over 11 years since the first time I saw Jimmy Eat World. That show was the massive Green Day/Blink co-headliner that found them playing to sold out stadiums just as their breakthrough single, “The Middle,” was starting to receive a lot of attention. And while the Arizona-based emo band never quite broke out like their Pop Disaster tourmates, the success of “The Middle” has provided the band with a steady fanbase over the years, and I was just one of many that were more than a little excited to see them at their Sept. 25th House of Blues show.

Jimmy Eat World kicked off their set with new track “I Will Steal You Back,” the lead single from their latest record, the self-released Damage. Its catchy riff and lovelorn lyrics remind me a lot of indie darlings Death Cab For Cutie, who I think they have a lot more in common with than people realize. Other Damage tracks “No, Never,” “Appreciation” and the title track all sound much better live than on the LP. My biggest complaint with the new record is the slightly muddy production, which works well for many bands but I prefer Jimmy Eat World’s more lush and layered sound on Clarity and Futures. Live, that problem goes away and the songs soar so much higher.

That said, from talking to the fans up front it seems like a lot of them still haven’t fully digested the new LP, so in a way it didn’t feel like the show really got going until the band transitioned from the earnest “…Steal You Back” to the big riffs and big rock sound of Chase This Light’s “Big Casino” (and credit where credit is due, I appreciate the band not making a bad pun about playing a song called “Big Casino” in an actual big casino). The song is one of my favorites and was clearly a crowd pleaser too, with audience members throwing their hands into the air and singing along. Bleed American still appears to be everyone’s favorite, with the danceable pop/rock of “The Authority Song,” 90s emo flavored “A Praise Chorus,” the hard rocking title track and of course the band’s biggest hit “The Middle” inciting the loudest sing-alongs. Futures tracks like “Pain,” “Kill” and the epic “23” also received huge responses.

With 8 full lengths under their belt, Jimmy Eat World has a lot of material to work with and for the most part they picked a pretty impeccable setlist. While I can’t help but bemoan the lack of anything from the truly underrated Static Prevails, I did appreciate the general spattering of songs from the latter 6 albums. In particular, I’m never going to get tired of hearing tracks from their 1999 masterpiece Clarity, and songs like “Lucky Denver Mint” and “Your New Aesthetic” hit just as hard as the first time I heard them. And if you weren’t at the House of Blues that night, you missed out on a truly beautiful Adkins solo rendition of Clarity centerpiece “For Me This is Heaven.”

New York-based indie pop group Matt Pond PA were the lone openers of the show, playing to the slowly filling HOB floor. I’ve heard a lot about Pond and crew over the years, but this was my first time hearing their music and I really enjoyed them. They remind me a lot of a full band Rocky Votolato or a more upbeat Pedro the Lion and I look forward to listening to them more after seeing their charismatic live show.

-Emily Matview | https://www.flickr.com/photos/holdfastnow/

Jimmy Eat World setlist:

I Will Steal You Back
Big Casino
My Best Theory
Appreciation
The Authority Song
Hear You Me
Book of Love
Futures
Kill
Work
You Were Good
Heart Is Hard to Find
Damage
Let It Happen
Pain
No, Never
Always Be
Lucky Denver Mint
Your New Aesthetic
A Praise Chorus
Sweetness
Bleed American
Encore:
Chase This Light
23
The Middle