JIMMY EAT WORLD @ BRIXTON ACADEMY 18/02/08

JIMMY EAT WORLD

I have somehow always managed to not see Jimmy Eat World. I would have missed them this time too had my friend not had an extra ticket. Jimmy Eat World have been one of the most interesting and strangely pioneering bands of the last ten or so years. Walking the tight-ropes of pop-punk and emo without ever really being able to be classified as either, they have managed to produce some remarkable albums that are so far removed from the disposable products normally released from bands of either of those two genres. The fact that the majority of the crowd at Brixton are over twenty-one is the best way to emphasise quite how well respected this band are.

Jimmy Eat World take to the stage and from the off something doesn't seem quite right. My initial excitement wore thin by the end of the first song and I was left wondering what was off. They were very tight and their back catalogue, that is littered with both hits and cult classics, meant that it was never going to get boring, but at times they managed to skirt with the possibility. In their defense, I feel that it is often hard for bands to create the required atmosphere in a venue of this size, and I feel that this was Jimmy Eat World's problem. They played well but the venue was just too large.

I went to this gig with a heavy, painful cough that I needed to rest and with the sing-a-long potential of Jimmy Eat World I thought that this would be a curse. Rarely did it become so though. The big hits and my personal favourite, 23, made me move my lips but hardly belt the words out or throw my finger in the air. This was not bad but it wasn't great either.

http://www.myspace.com/jimmyeatworld