Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins channeled his former self — from about 10 years ago — at the “Clarity” anniversary tour at the Ogden on Monday. Photos by .
By Jarrod Duncan
chose to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their “Clarity” by rocking a ten-show tour around the country, playing their seminal album from front to back. I jumped at the chance to witness the band’s Monday night show at the . “Can you still feel the butterflies?” is a question asked in the song “For Me This Is Heaven.” And when I first heard this record, I could most certainly feel the butterflies — and looked forward to feeling them again.
Looking around the Ogden, I noticed an older crowd than previous Jimmy Eat World shows. I was pleased to see this change from their usual 13-year-old pop-punk teen crowd. This audience knew what they came to see, and they had been waiting patiently.
Opening for Jimmy Eat World was Reuben’s Accomplice. Jim Adkins of JEW co-produced their album, “The Bull, The Balloon & The Family,” and the bands share the same hometown. Reuben’s Accomplice is a solid band, but I saw them in 2005, and, with the exception of a few songs, their set still consists of the same material. At least they sound better than they did in 2005. At one point, they asked everyone to shake their keys like maracas and the crowd was happy to go along with the request.
And then it was time for some “Clarity.” Making their way to the stage, the unassuming headliners took their places. Frontman Jim Adkins hasn’t aged a day since 2001. I worried that seeing them now would feel like seeing blink-182 play “Cheshire Cat.” (Sometimes lyrics don’t translate well after a decade of aging.) Fortunately that worry was quelled within the first 30 seconds of “Table For Glasses.” Suddenly I was 18 again, making mix CDs for the girls who didn’t know I liked them.
The band charged through the first four tracks without taking a break to talk or to make a quip about Denver’s elevation. “Lucky Denver Mint” was a definite highlight with the crowd. Hearing your city’s name – and not in the context of “Itap great to be here, ____” or “We love you, ____” – was fun for a change.
“Your New Aesthetic,” the closest cousin to their album “Bleed American,” made the crowd sway in a sea of blue cell phone lights. I couldn’t help but wonder if the lyrics about trashing “cookie-cutter hit-single pop-rock bands” makes them hypocritical, considering their radio successes with “Bleed American.” But that soon passed.
The slower chapter of the album – with songs “12.23.95,” “Ten,” “Just Watch The Fireworks” and “For Me This Is Heaven” – was a breathtaking scene. These slow songs show what “Clarity” is all about – itap an instrument-driven ride that you don¹t want to stop. And it was exciting to see it all unfold.
The biggest hurdle of the night was “Goodbye Sky Harbor,” the final song on the album. I couldn’t have appreciated their performance of this song any more than I did. On the album, this song goes on for thirteen minutes in a revolving, kaleidoscope of sounds, which bring a sense of euphoria to the well-initiated. To do this, Jim Adkins recorded and re-recorded different verses and looped them to form this massive symphony using only his voice. It was a spectacular way to end the “Clarity” experience.
True to form, the band came back out for some newer material, playing hits like “23,” “No Sensitivity” and the “Rock Band”-friendly “The Middle.” (Is that solo fun to play or what?) The crowd was ecstatic to hear “23,” and they went into a frenzy when they heard “Sweetness,” which brought about the inevitable, yet rarely successful, mosh pit.
Overall, this wasn’t a concert in the traditional sense. There weren’t the massive hits the crowd was convulsing over. Instead it was more of an all-or-nothing experience – it could only be viewed as a whole. As separate songs, it would have fallen apart. But molded together, it was one of the most solid shows I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing. And, to answer the question posed by Jimmy Eat World so many years ago, the answer is: Yes, I can definitely still feel the butterflies.
Jarrod Duncan works a fulltime job patrolling the streets for evil doers. When there is a slow night of crime he likes to write and take pictures. For more work check out his website at www.jarrodduncan.com or www.flickr.com/photos/chemikalburn/.
is a Denver photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb.
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