Fans of Jimmy Eat World know how lucky they are in terms of the band’s working schedule; rarely taking big chunks of time off between tours and releasing albums such as the 1999 cult classic ‘Clarity’ and the 2004 ‘Futures’ album, which the band celebrated the 10th Anniversary of last year, touring it in full. Lead singer Jim Adkins has been known to play the occasional solo gig in the past, generally around his home state of Arizona, and the band’s time off this year presented Jim with an excellent opportunity to record some solo material and embark on a European tour with just his guitar.
Jim’s tour sees him play in some intimate and gorgeous venues such as London’s Union Chapel and the Northern Royal College of Music in Manchester. A smartly dressed Jim walked on stage to cheers from the crowd in Manchester last Friday night, picked up his acoustic guitar and belted out ‘Love Don’t Wait’; one of the 6 solo tracks that he’s chosen to release both digitally and as a 7” EP Collection. ‘Love Don’t Wait’ was the perfect opening track to display Jim’s phenomenal vocal range. The set list consisted of other solo tracks such as ‘Hell’, ‘I Will Go’ and his own takes on Everly Brothers track ‘Give Me A Sweetheart’ and Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’. Jim’s solo material is well worth looking in to, and his cover versions are nothing short of genius. ‘I Will Go’ in particular is like nothing you’ve heard from Jimmy Eat World or Jim before, featuring a brass band and progressive lyrics such as “I will march out of this grave”, it’s a strong track that sounded wonderful stripped back.
It’s an incredibly special and personal experience to hear one of your favourite musicians play some of your favourite songs stripped back in an intimate environment, and Jim ensured that many of his fans properly experienced this on Friday night, playing a range of Jimmy Eat World songs. Popular tracks such as ‘Damage’, ‘Always Be’ and ‘Big Casino’ received big crowd reactions, though for me it was Jim’s striking version of the tear-jerking ‘Polaris’ from the ‘Futures’ album, or his beautiful rendition of ‘Chase This Light’ from the album of the same title that truly stole the night.
Jim played a set of over twenty songs with an astonishing amount of passion and soul. Jimmy Eat World tracks ‘Lucky Denver Mint’ and ‘Always Be’ are two tracks alone that really showcased his passion for what he does and his enjoyment to be out on the road playing a set list that not only includes new tracks, but also features Jimmy Eat World tracks that don’t often make it in to the band’s set lists. Not only did these two tracks highlight his remarkable voice, but they also highlighted his exceptional guitar playing – I’ve never seen somebody play an acoustic guitar with such fury.
The majority of songs were played consecutively; though aside from his polite “I’m Jim, I’m from Arizona” introduction, Jim occasionally stopped to note how respectful the crowd were, commenting on how people seem to be afraid of getting in to trouble as it’s a small scale solo tour in particularly nice venues. Jim also shared some stories and ensured that he gracefully thanked the crowd often for taking the time to support both his solo work and that of the band, as well as for taking the time to come and see him – a true gentleman!
Jim Adkins isn’t like your typical rock star, he’s an incredibly modest guy who once admitted that planning encores made him feel like a “dick”. Instead choosing to end his lengthy set triumphantly with wholehearted performances of Jimmy Eat World tracks ‘Authority Song’ and ‘Work’, encouraging crowd participation and receiving a well-deserved standing ovation. Jim Adkins solo was a magical experience and with Jim himself recently stating in an interview how he hopes that this will be an ongoing project, hopefully the future will see him release an entire solo album and embark on another solo tour. For now though Jimmy Eat World are due to play Summer Ends Festival and Taste of Chaos Festival in America over the next couple of months and are hopefully due to hit the studio soon afterwards, I for one already can’t wait.
More from Music
Frannie B drops new single “Echo”
Based in Oxford, Frannie B has been making an impact in the UK music scene with a pop-focused sound that …
Brand new single from Nick Norton-Smith
London-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Nick Norton-Smith has built a decorated career across an unusually diverse musical landscape, moving between film, …
New full-length record from Divergent
While some musical ambitions take a little longer to find their moment, the journey for Iowa-based trio Divergent has been …
