“A New Jersey Success Story”: Celebrating 25 Years of Jimmy Eat World’s ‘Bleed American'.

Photos: Andre Paras

Are you listening? Because we at TOP8 are singin’ it back to Jimmy Eat World, who’re taking the full “Bleed American” track-list out on the road to commemorate 25 years of a truly landmark album.

Nearly halfway through the tour, the bands stopped at The Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park, NJ, alongside The Wonder Years and Girls Against Boys as part of the state’s continuing North2Shore music festival.

Post-hardcore band Girls Against Boys, hailing from New York City, kicked off the night.

Their live band brings not one, but a dual-bass setup attack alongside frontman Scott McCloud’s wheezy sing-speak vocals and tongue-in-cheek lyrics on tracks like “Kill the Sexplayer.”

The band fought against broken guitar straps and what seemed to be a few sound issues, but it didn’t seem to affect their rockin’ performance.

The next band up had a special set, and despite being an opener, fans showed and showed out for them. Chances are, you know them and love them if you’re big into the scene, they’re The Wonder Years!

The proud Philly band rockin’ the gear and making sure you hear all about it on the mic, they bring a really hard pop-punk sound chock-full of shouty melodies.

Coming off of their 10th anniversary “No Closer to Heaven” tour, these were supposed to be the band’s last shows of the year, let alone for an indefinite period of time.

“We are actually gonna rest up, we’re actually gonna write a record,” said lead singer Dan Campbell, known to fans as ‘Soupy.’ “And who knows? Maybe next year we come back to New Jersey? And you’re here? I hope so.”

Well, what got them to do a few more shows? Well, when you’re asked by emo royalty Jimmy Eat World to do so, it’s something you rearrange your plans for. That’s the sentiment of what Soupy was telling the crowd.

He’d said the band does not do too many supporting gigs anymore, but it seemed special that they were doing it for Jimmy Eat World. He spoke fondly of where he was at his high school when he first heard “Bleed American,” and the influence that record, “Clarity,” and “Static Prevails” have had on him and The Wonder Years’ music.

The set was nothing short of special, with mini mosh pits, crowd surfing, and overall big energy erupting from the crowd as the band ripped tracks off “No Closer to Heaven,” “The Greatest Generation,” and “The Hum Goes On Forever.” And not to mention, still being able to use their platform for what they believe in, as they do at every single show.

“We care about creating space and keeping safe all of our trans friends,” Soupy said proudly into the mic. “This band is anti-war, anti-imperialism, and anti-ICE! And this band is for a free Palestine!”

Cheers exploded from the crowd in this safe space of overwhelming support. But the band wasn’t done yet; it was time for the classic “Came Out Swinging,” and it felt like the whole place knew every single word.

Well, way to set a tone for what’s next. Hailing all the way from the suburbs of Mesa, Arizona, were the band spanning decades, selling millions of records, and breaking all our emo hearts. Jimmy. Eat. World.

Lead guitarist AND lead singer Jim Adkins and company walked out on stage to a cool, big red light setup, shrinking the stage a bit. To this, they opened up their set with four songs off of “Clarity.”

After just a couple of tracks, Adkins hit the mic and told the crowd, “This is the best show of the tour.” Whether he was lying or not (we think NOT), there’s a lot to credit to the intimate atmosphere that could be had at The Stone Pony Summer Stage despite being a semi/big venue, but also the fact that New Jersey has a reputation for giving it their all at the gig.

At the end of “Lucky Denver Mint,” the stage began to transform. Armed with a stadium-like drum fill transition, those big red lights were gone and moved away, and the stage opened up to the sound of an anthem we know and love, “Bleed American.”

This was the start of a historic album, and what felt like them starting the set over once again in a way so much bigger than the first. The folks starting the pits made it over my way, and in no time I was two-stepping, shouting at the top of my lungs, and (friendly) moshing.

Back-to-back-to-back-to-back bangers, and then some, all over this tracklist. What a flex it is to have a song like “The Middle” just sit in the middle of your setlist.

What makes it all so amazing is how mature the songs are and have always been lyrically. It’s one thing to see a great anniversary tour set from a classic emo band, full of breakup anthems and melodrama. It’s another to listen back and be still inspired by uplifting tracks like “A Praise Chorus,” and still feel like the band holds true to these messages.

For OG fans or newbies, people could fully immerse themselves in the prime era of the band, since throughout the whole show, they didn’t play any track released after 2007.

Adkins told the crowd his refreshing approach toward playing the old stuff. How do you not get tired of playing these same songs after all these years? Well, for him it’s like hitting a rest every night and doing it like he’s never before, and connecting with the crowd from there.

There’s that fine line between a band going full-on nostalgia machine versus artists just happy to celebrate their past tracks and continue on with new stuff too. With Adkins at 50, it’s certainly important to look back every once in a while, and I’m sure that feeling is unreal doing it with these songs, an exact half of his lifetime ago.

The band ended with tracks off “Futures” and sprinkled in “Disintegration” and “(Splash) Turn Twist,” a “Bleed American” deluxe track that never made the record. Notably for this Jersey crowd, we got an extra song in “Big Casino” which made its tour debut right before the closer, likely for its mention of New Jersey in its lyrics.

Overall, what a night, an experience really, to look back at for Jersey and for us at TOP8 Scene. It’s been a lot of fun taking in all the nostalgia and jumping around to the best in the genre these past couple of weeks.

Fortunately, the show’s only getting started with plenty of summer to go. Catch you soon at The Stone Pony on Ocean Avenue, and everywhere in between.

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