Arizona does not play when it comes to Jimmy Eat World. The local legends made a pit stop in between Coachella weekends at the historic Rialto Theatre in downtown Tucson on Friday night for a lengthy headlining set that brought out diehard fans of all ages.
The show started with a brief history lesson of the building, drawing laughter and a roomful of interested nodding before the AZ icons took the stage. Under a haze of fog and brilliant spotlights, the five members of Jimmy Eat World launched right into “Pain” and “Just Tonight…” With such an extensive discography stretching behind a 25 year career, the band had more than enough material to fill several hours and chose the best of the best for Friday’s show.
Crowd participation is a cornerstone of Jimmy Eat World’s performances and the classic sing it back moments on “Sweetness” never get old. The band worked up a summer sweat right alongside the fans during “If You Don’t, Don’t” and “Lucky Denver Mint” and, at this point, had barely scratched the surface of their setlist.
The middle of the set was devoted to deeper but no less beloved cuts from Jimmy Eat World’s catalog and singer Jim Adkins thanked the fans profusely at every break in the performance. While the band has plenty of sweeping anthemic songs in their repertoire, they’re also able to deliver profound emotions on songs like “23” and “For Me This is Heaven”. The fans swayed in unison, clutching friends and family while pouring their hearts into singing along and drawing big smiles from the guys onstage.
The final lap of the 20-song setlist included the tearjerker that is “Hear You Me” right into the hard-hitting “Bleed American” and “A Praise Chorus”. Not a single moment or note was wasted in this absolute marathon of a set and the band gave one final farewell with “The Middle” to close things out. Naturally, they couldn’t stay away for long and the audience cheered them back onstage for an encore of “Call It in the Air” and “The World You Love” for the perfect conclusion to a packed home state show.
Fans from across Arizona made the journey to Tucson for this celebratory headliner, sending Jimmy Eat World back to the second weekend of Coachella riding high from the love of their hometown audience.
