By Amber Callister
The band Jimmy Eat World played at the UVSC McKay Events Center to give the crowd a taste of their new album, “Futures.”
“I”d never seen Jimmy Eat World before,” said Jordan Ballantyne, a bioinformatics major from Littleton, Colo. “They lived up to my expectations, they were good performers with a lot of energy that they transferred into the crowd a lot.”
Jimmy Eat World has established themselves in the music scene, yet critics struggle to identify the exact genre of their music. The band has been characterized anywhere from indie rock, to alternative/punk to emo and even under the pop genre.
The band has the ability to appeal to a wide variety of audiences because of their vast genre of styles.
Lisa Baugh, a freshman and open major from Highland, was disappointed when the concert turned out different than she expected.
“I think I expected them to perform more like Dashboard [Confessional],” Baugh said. “I just expected them to have more of a punk or emo feel.”
Ballantyne said those who have only listened to the band”s “Bleed American” album, might have been surprised by the hard rock feel to the concert.
“Bleed American is more pop,” said Michelle Ballantyne, Jordan”s wife who also attended the concert. “If you have more of their albums, you”ll realize their music is a lot more hard rock.”
Jordan said attendants should expect concerts to be generally louder and harder and harder than CDs.
The music of Jimmy Eat World inspired many attendants to crowd surf. Although the McKay Events Center implemented the new rule forbidding mosh-pits and crowd surfing, Jimmy Eat World”s louder and more energetic songs lead a portion of the floor crowd to break the rules.
“In the past we discouraged it but now we”re enforcing it more,” said Mark Hildebrand, the director of the McKay Events Center. “It”s basically for insurance concerns and the potential of people getting hurt.”
Hildebrand said that to have people jumping up and down and enjoying themselves is encouraged but they want to discourage mosh-pits and crowd surfing to protect the safety of other attendants. Hildebrand said at every concert there are a few medical problems or emergencies.
Although there were crowd surfers breaking the rules, the lead singer of the opening band Recover, decided to join in and break the rules as well, as he jumped into the crowd somersaulting across their hands.
Jimmy Eat World said they were privileged to have such a large crowd at the concert. The band”s lead singer Tom Linton mentioned during the concert the long road they took to make the big time. According to the VH1 Web site, the four members of Jimmy Eat World were childhood friends that formed the band in the mid-90s and took several years to establish themselves. The band”s name derived from one of the band member”s younger brother Jimmy. One day, Jimmy got into a quarrel with his younger brother Ed. In order to fight back, Ed drew a picture of Jimmy eating the world with the words “Jimmy Eat World” written below. The band loved it and adopted it as their name. After forming the band, it took several years to make the big time. But, with the release of their fourth album “Futures,” Jimmy Eat World appears to be set in the music scene and distinguished as a big name band.
Hildebrand said the McKay Events Center host about six big name concerts a year. They will host Good Charlotte and Sum 41 on November 3rd and Yellowcard on November 22nd.
