Brightest Young Things

To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of one of the original emo-tastic albums, Clarity, Jimmy Eat World is doing ten sold-out dates across our fair land. Stop number two on the tour was right here in DC at the 9:30 Club. This show has been sold out for months and with little-to-no scalpers out front, it seemed like a sure sign that inside was a full house of dedicated fans. 

But what a weird crowd: there were (presumably) straight-edge warriors in Judge hoodies standing in near proximity to girls-next-door in Abercrombie zip-ups. Despite their external differences, everyone was seemingly sharing the same vibe of mellow optimism as the ever-lingering stale beer scent that comes with venues such as the 9:30 Club (not a jab; just truth) wafted through the air. The pre-teens weren't present.

Reubens Accomplice (with a member from Limbeck!) played a lovely little set making use of a variety of percussion tools (including fancy things like some car keys) and slide guitar. The five-piece from Arizona produced toe-tapping tunes, but their efforts were mostly lost on the crowd as a whole. They couldn't help but notice the increasingly chattiness of the audience throughout the set. At one point the guitarist said, "I understand you're anxious... We're what's known as a fluffer."

To the crowd's credit, they weren't in-your-face-demanding-your-attention rock so much as this-is-a-nice-soundtrack-to-a-lazy-Sunday rock. Still, it wasn't an odd coupling with Jimmy Eat World. Although not the most widely known, they've been around the block, kicking around since the early 2000s. However, much to my dismay, upon a little internettin' it appears that the female drummer - who played in heels, by the way! - is not a permanent member of the line-up.

After a set change, the main event started right on time.  The lights dim, and as the first note and gentle drumming of "Tables for Glasses" began camera flashes were going off. They sound great. Tight as ever. Rick Burch's bass was booming hard and everything was perfect.

The album was played in order and only experienced minor technical glitches. When front Jim Adkins was cueing up the cello effect on his guitar for "Just Watch the Fireworks," he said to the crowd, "Computers are so awesome when they do everything you want them to do!" After a little tweaking, things were underway again.

Their set was sprinkled with modest thank yous, and right before "For Me This is Heaven," Adkins said, "DC's always been a special place to us--especially the 9:30 Club."

When it came to Clarity's epic last track (on the album, it clocks in at 16 minutes, 13 seconds) "Goodbye Sky Harbor," I wasn't timing (totally should have!) but it seemed pretty darn close to matching the album track. Impressive.

The weird thing about the night? The crowd. You would think for a show that sold out months ago for an album that has risen to cult classic status, that the place would have been filled with people jumping out of their skins for this kind of event. Not so much. There were die-hard fans there for sure, but as a whole, I was pretty disappointed in the crowd. However, I didn't let that get to me and kept a smile plastered on my face for their entire set.

Encore tracks:
"What I would say to you Now" Self-Titled (Big Wheel Recreation, 2000)
"No Sensitivity" Split with Jebediah (Big Wheel Recreation, 2000)
"Work" Futures (Interscope Records, 2004)
"Pain" Futures (Interscope Records, 2004)
"The Middle" Bleed American (Dreamworks, 2001)
"Sweetness" Bleed American (Dreamworks, 2001)

Previously in Live DC:

• 2/13: LiveDC: George Clinton & The Parliament-Funkadelic @ 930 Club
• 2/13: LiveDC: Veronica Falls/ Brilliant Colors @ Black Cat
• 2/13: LIVE DC: Steve Aoki/ Datsik/ Alvin Risk @ Fillmore
• 2/13: LiveDC: The Darkness @ 930 Club
• 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
• 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
• 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre