Jimmy Eat World | Chicago, IL (Riot Fest Aftershow)
2022 feels like a victory lap for Jimmy Eat World.
On the heels of their electrifying new single ‘Something Loud’, the band has embarked on one of the largest headlining tours of their recent career. Bringing out a setlist bursting at the seams with classics (and one hell of an opening act in Charly Bliss), the tour as a whole serves as a celebration of the band’s nearly three decade spanning career.
But what happens when a band in this position is asked to play a small room mere hours before they would take the stage at Riot Fest to thousands of fans? The rule book gets thrown out, and the diehards get their dream show.
The sheer amount of people who managed to get across Chicago on a Saturday night in the hour between Yellowcard and Misfits ending their festival sets and Charly Bliss taking the stage was astonishing. By the time Charly Bliss picked up their instruments to play the first notes of ‘Hard to Believe’, the room was uncomfortably full. Despite the late start time (Charly Bliss wouldn’t take the stage until 11:00 PM), the energy in Metro was undeniable. Charly Bliss opened with a string of songs from their most recent record Young Enough, before shifting gears to half a set worth of unreleased music. These new tracks felt like companions to those off of Young Enough, but with slightly more of a pop-leaning sound, and the band pull it off with flying colors. Their 40-minute set flew by, as the band closed their set with their epic ‘Young Enough’ what felt like mere moments after they began.
After a brief twenty minute wait, Jimmy Eat World were welcomed to the stage with a venue booming with applause. Without providing any advance notice, the band opened with a trio of songs from their early records, starting with Static Prevails b-side ‘What Would I Say to You Now’ immediately into ‘Clarity’ and fan-favorite ‘For Me This is Heaven’. The band followed this with a few tracks from Futures, Clarity, and Surviving before the unthinkable happened - Jimmy Eat World played ‘The Middle’ halfway through their set. ‘A Sunday’, an acoustic rendition of ‘555’, and the criminally underrated ‘Damage’ followed the multi-platinum hit; and then the band did it again - ‘Sweetness’ came much earlier than would normally be expected. Vocalist Jim Adkins then took a moment to explain that the band wanted to do something special with this date, before expressing a profound amount of gratitude for the position they have found themselves in for the past twenty years. Following this was the new single and future live staple ‘Something Loud’, Static Prevails’ album opener ‘Thinking, That’s All’, and the Tom Linton-led ‘Blister’. In saying goodbye, Adkins promised that the band were ‘definitely not playing this one tomorrow’ before ending the show with the massive and cathartic ‘23’.
Potentially the biggest takeaway from the night - there are few artists who have had the impact on their community that Jimmy Eat World has. It’s something truly special when a band is able to play well over an hour while ignoring a bulk of their singles in favor of playing deep cuts. It’s even more so when that ability is celebrated, and Saturday night felt like exactly that - an earnest celebration of one of the greatest bands to ever do it, and a cornerstone in a well-deserved victory lap.
Photos by Kaitlyn Johnston
Show Review by Jake Ciccotelli
