Walking over to Terminal Five Thursday night I was highly anticipating seeing Jimmy Eat World. I had gotten a taste of the band last month when they played the Virgin Mobile Festival but this would be more than a 20 minute festival set. It would be a whole headlining performance complete with encore.
As I got closer to the venue a legion of umbrella laden fans trekked over to the west side venue despite the night’s wet somewhat steamy night. Inside the place was packed from the top balcony down to the bottom floor. The crowd was not what I was expecting; somewhat older in age and mostly people decked out in black. I felt like a sore thumb sticking out with my bright green raincoat and pink and green rain boots.
Unfortunately, I missed We Were Promised Jetpacks and walked in just as they were changing sets. Around 9:10 pm the houselights dimmed and crowd jeered as the band came out.
The show got off to a great start as they opened with the rocking, catchy tune “Bleed American.” Throughout the night they played a bulk of songs of the new Invented album along with older fan favorites from their older albums Bleed American, Futures, and Clarity. While the show was good, I must admit I wasn’t that excited by the performance. The size of Terminal 5 is very large and it made me disconnected from the show. I looked around and was glad to see that other people were excited and having a good time dancing around to fast songs and swaying to slower numbers. The audience sang along in unison so you heard a crowd of voices echoing with the lead vocals.
The show, however, did end on a high note. They finished with what my friend called “their four best songs”- “23,” “Pain,” “The Middle” and “Sweetness” – and was a great send off into the night.