With just a few short weeks until the start of a new decade, it's no surprise that nostalgia is in the air. We're seeing "Best of the Decade" lists flooding our timelines as people reflect on the music that's helped shape the past 10 years.
Among those influences, for many, is Jimmy Eat World. With a career spanning more than 25 years, the Arizona four-piece has treated us to a slew of formative songs that have molded the rock genre into what it is today (namely "The Middle" and "Hear You Me" off 2001's Bleed American).
But the best part? They show no signs of slowing down. In fact, members Jim Adkins, Zach Lind, Tom Linton and Rick Burch are still paving the way with honest songwriting and evident evolution.
"When you start it’s kind of like, what you do sort of sounds like your record collection," Adkins said, reflecting on the group's career in a recent interview.
"You’re just going and you don’t spend a whole lot of time analyzing why you’re going, but I think as you get older, especially if you’re with the same group of people, the reward that you get changes."
The band returned with their tenth studio album, Surviving, in October, which features songs "Congratulations," "Surviving" and "Criminal Energy," and spawned singles "All the Way (Stay)" and "Love Never."
On November 2, they took Surviving on the road, kicking things off with a show at Washington's in Fort Collins. They made their way around North American cities like Madison, Richmond, Orlando and Brooklyn, ultimately wrapping things up this weekend at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
On Saturday, December 7, Jimmy Eat World rocked the OC with a 9-song acoustic set for the first night of KROQ's "Almost Acoustic Christmas" show. Other performances included Catfish and the Bottlemen, The Head and the Heart, Cold War Kids, Angels and Airwaves and Cage the Elephant.
Jimmy Eat World opened their set with a pair of singles off 2004's Futures, "Pain" and "Work," before the nostalgia kicked in and Bleed American took over, with highlights in "Bleed American," "Sweetness," "Hear You Me" and, of course, "The Middle."
They only played two songs off the new record ("Love Never" and "555"), and also included a festive cover of Wham!'s "Last Christmas."
Check out the entire setlist, and see videos from the performance below!
Jimmy Eat World are heading into the next decade strong, going Down Under for Download 2020. They've also just announced a few other sideshows while they're in Australia, which you can check out below.
You can head to the band's website for tickets and details.
Jimmy Eat World AUS Tour 2020
16/03 – Fremantle, Australia
19/03 – Brisbane, Australia
20/03 – Ascot Vale, Australia
21/03 – Parramatta, Australia
23/03 – Adelaide, Australia
