Review: Jimmy Eat World, O2 Academy

The world is facing several scary deadlines. One day the oil will run out, the Arctic will be ice-free and Jimmy Eat World will stop touring.

I jest of course, two of those events will have global implications and the other will merely be bad news for indie kids who’ve grown used to their regular tours, but it will be a sad day nonetheless.

Like watching for migratory birds, fans of their particular brand of rock know that every so often this US band will swoop into Bristol to leave an audience shattered and hoarse.

There are certain predictable elements of a Jimmy Eat World set. Lead singer Jim Adkins will launch things by saying “We’re Jimmy Eat World from Arizona” (sometimes he throws the word desert in there to keep us on our toes) and at some point a roadie will emerge, stage left, and hand him an acoustic guitar to signal bereavement-meets-harmony classic Hear You Me is about to be played.

Huge, expansive anthem 23 will usually find its way onto the setlist, as it did on Saturday night at the O2, and call-and-response favourite Sweetness often pops up in the latter stages, as it did this time.

But this is not some indie version of Status Quo we’re talking about here, the reason the band’s influence continues to grow (in 2010 when they played the same venue I remember having a lot more elbow room than this time) is their ability to keep producing consistently good new material.

Integrity Blues, their ninth album, may not match superb early efforts Bleed American and Futures but there are some gems in there, which complemented the classics at this show.

Pass The Baby shows a flicker of the band’s darker, heavier side (for about twenty seconds I thought I was listening to Enter Sandman by Metallica) and You Are Free shows Adkins can still bare his soul with the best of them.

The highlight from me was when, mid-set, the opening chords of Polaris rang out over the packed O2, and an already sweaty Adkins took a few deep breaths before launching into one of the longest songs in their back catalogue.

“When you go, I’ll let you be..but you’re killing everything in me,” he crooned, as the couple next to me finally surrendered to their Saturday night lust and began entwining tongues.

Jimmy Eat World; Getting Bristol in the mood for love and loss since the mid 1990s. We’ll miss them.