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Yeah, I know, the Jimmy Eat World / No Knife concert at the Marquee Theatre was back in March, so why a show review now?

April 1st, 2009 Posted by: Dust Devil

Well folks, the answer is simple. The concert was that good and Jimmy Eat World deserve some heavy props for a fabulous evening!

March 7, 2009, I headed over to the Marquee Theatre with a couple of buddies for what I knew would be a great show, and what better way to top off the week? I had already seen The Pretenders and James Galway the same week, so it made sense to cover the entire spectrum in regards to musical genres.

Jimmy Eat World was playing the last of ten shows in celebration of the ten-year anniversary of their watershed album Clarity, and the band was playing the disc in its entirety live during this short tour. Hailing from Mesa, AZ, this show was also a homecoming for the band, and the crowd completely got into the spirit of things on this historic evening.

What is scary is the opener, San Diego’s own No Knife, may have been the highlight of the evening, at least in the eyes of the Dust Devil. No Knife had come out of “retirement” to play a few stops of the tour, and Arizona was fortunate enough to land one of No Knife’s gigs. Holy mackerel, were they unbelievable or what! Having never had an opportunity before to see them, this was a special occasion for me. They did not disappoint, leading off with Academy Flight Song and Minus One, the first two tracks off their third album Fire in the City of Automatons. The dual lead vocals of Ryan Ferguson and Mitch Wilson were outstanding, and for a band that had played their last show in March of 2003 until this tour, they were extremely tight. The highlight of course was Jim Adkins from Jimmy Eat World coming out to sing backing vocals on Charming, just as he did when No Knife released Automatons. My money is on the fact that 90% of the crowd did not even know the band enlisted him for backing vocals all those years ago. What a great moment seeing him up there during that tune!

I could have gone home then, but I was really excited to see Jimmy Eat World. Now, before the review of their set, how about a huge BOO to the Marquee Theatre first? It really stinks that the bigger general admission shows usually end up at this venue, because the more I attend shows there, the more I miss the Red River Opry and despise this establishment. Parking is a joke, the security is on one serious power trip, and the process to simply enter the venue is out of control. Sorry guys, your venue is not the same as going through security at the airport, so the policy of having people take off their shoes is asinine. What is more idiotic is the fact they expect their patrons to do this on the pavement, which makes “perfect sense” instead of having a rug or some other surface for people to step on. I wish this venue would disappear yesterday, that is how tired I am of the place.

We move on to more positive things, because although Jimmy Eat World should have played at a venue more deserving of the amount of fans they draw, their set was incredible! Clarity is such a great album, and like many other fans it is my favorite piece of work from this band. Every song is wonderful, and knowing Jimmy Eat World was going to play the disc in its entirety excited the heck out of me.

Well, not only did they play every tune, they did so in the exact order on the album! The first set was all Clarity and the crowd loved every second of it. I have never seen Marquee so packed, and it was incredibly loud considering it seemed every fan was singing along the entire night! How special for the band, hearing one gigantic chorus as they played. Lucky Denver Mint and Your New Aesthetic were phenomenal, A Sunday was delivered in a beautful manner and Goodbye Sky Harbor was a great end to the set.

Not done yet, Jimmy Eat World returned to play some of their B-sides and tracks from other albums, closing things out with their smash hit singles from Bleed American, The Middle and Sweetness. They delivered a dynamite show, and one has to believe Jim Adkins was being sincere when he expressed over and over during the concert that the show was the best one they had ever played in town.

Folks, Jimmy Eat World will be releasing a digital only version of the Tempe show on April 7. The track listing includes the entire Clarity set, as well as two of the tracks played during the encore. If you were there, what a great way to have a life-long memory of the historic show. If you were one of the unlucky ones who did not land a ticket before the concert sold out, here is your chance to own this little piece of music history.

The next post will have some April and May shows for all of you to consider, and of course, don’t forget that Coachella is coming up April 17-19. I am so pumped for that weekend!

Cheers!
The Dust Devil

Filed under: Venue News & Reviews, Event Reviews, Cheers and Jeers