They say that a fine wine gets better with age.  In that respect, Jimmy Eat World is like a fine wine.  With every new album they release, they get better and better.  After missing their major tour in support of their new album Damage, I was able to get the chance to photograph them on this mini tour which brought them to Sayreville, New Jersey.  To say I wasn’t nervous would be a lie though.

Jimmy Eat World’s set almost clocked in at 2 hours, which I was impressed by.  Playing a good assortment of songs from their albums, Jimmy Eat World seemed to be excited to play Jersey on Friday the 13^th.  The excitement could be seen by each member in the band, so much so that they played “Night Drive”.  From what Jim Adkins said, it sounded like they never played this song live before.

With a heavy emphasis on playing material from Damage, I was surprised to see during mid set the band leave and Jim play on acoustic guitar the closing track to Damage, “You Were Good”.  To be honest, after hearing this I thought Jim sounded like Buddy Holly with the sort of hiccup vocals, but also that Jimmy Eat World should release an acoustic album and tour.

The encore to Jimmy Eat World’s set must have been the highlight though.  Not only did they play my favorite song “23”, they also got into the holiday spirit by playing their cover of Wham!’s “Last Christmas”.  A surprise I think no one was expecting.

I can’t remember Jimmy Eat World’s last set when I saw them, but this set list had a good amount of surprises.  I think everyone left wanting more, but like everyone else I only hope Jimmy Eat World will be one of those bands that will continue as a band for many years to come.  I can only hope I will get to photograph them again.

http://jimmyeatworld.com/
Buy: http://store.jimmyeatworld.com/
Listen: http://grooveshark.com/#!/jimmy_eat_world