There is an unassuming nature to Jimmy Eat World.
They trot onstage so briskly that the lights hadn't yet properly dimmed and the PA music was still blaring away, and what followed was a fine display of no-frills, unshowy rock music. This was the performance of a tight group who've been playing for two decades, and understand how to build a set.
That didn't mean the early flurries were lacking in quality. The Arizona quartet may still be best known for 2001's The Middle single but they have been steady with their output since then, and dropped in tracks from each of their eight albums. The most recent of those, Damages, provided some of the evening's most bone-crunching numbers and while Appreciation was too heavily straightforward in its sound, the rousing No, Never showed they've not lost their way with melody.
There was little chat from singer Jim Adkins in a set which ploughed through 25 numbers in rapid-fire fashion. Yet what was impressive was how smoothly everything clicked together, and for all the band's lyrics can shoot for the heart with emotion, there were some wicked grooves in there too, with drummer Zach Lind giving My Best Theory a strutting beat and The Authority Song a clap-happy backdrop.
There was enough shade delivered by the dreamy acoustics of Hear You Me and Heart Is Hard To Find's strum-a-long to provide respite, but the core remained euphoric rock, and matters swelled triumphantly on a huge Always Be and a version of Sweetness that provoked bedlam.
Strangely, the encore started slowly, before The Middle displayed the group at their polished, catchy best.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article