‘Jimmy Eat World’ pleased fans at both Reading & Leeds Festival last weekend by playing not just once, but twice. The American rock band from Arizona band took to the main stage in the afternoon, where they were greeted with thousands of screaming dedicated fans as they played a set of their classics old and new, including songs from their 2013 released album ‘Damage’, before taking on a more intimate setting as they headlined the Festival Lock Up stage in the evening. Not bad at all for a band who formed in 1993!
Fans flocked to the Lock Up stage for the second set to the extent that many happily watched the show from outside the full tent. The band are currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of their fifth studio album ‘Futures’, embarking on a US, New Zealand, Australian and European tour, though unfortunately Reading & Leeds were the only UK stops planned as of yet. The band took to the stage to play the underrated classic rock album in full, before crowd favourite ‘Sweetness’, and quite possibly their biggest track to date, ‘The Middle’. The dedicated crowd hung on a very thankful frontman Jim Adkins’ every word. Though it’s unfair to give the entirety of praise to Adkins as if he’s nachos, the band behind him are nacho cheese, as they click perfectly, complimenting every one of his notes.
With the main stage set being such a hit, and ‘Jimmy Eat World’ being known for the quality of their live shows, you can only imagine the beauty of the second show. ‘Drugs or Me’ for example is an intense track where Adkins appears to be communicating with a lover hooked on drugs, which he performed with in an incredible amount of emotion, in such a beautiful manner.
As a ‘Jimmy Eat World’ fan, I’m incredibly thankful to have been present at both of the Leeds Festival sets, and am still in awe now. We can only hope for a new album soon, or the ‘Futures’ tour to be extended to the UK. It’s safe to say that the band will have successfully made some new fans last weekend, as if there was a set to stumble upon, it was one of theirs. And if you stumbled on their Lock Up stage set, as a fan old or new, you really saw something special.
Highlights from the Festival, including the ‘Jimmy Eat World’ main stage set are still available on BBC iPlayer.
‘I Will Steal You Back’ at Reading Festival 2014:
By Laura Dean – @modestlaura
