Jimmy Eat World, Styrofoam

A sold out Roundhouse met the arrival of the alternative, emo-pop quartet, Jimmy Eat World. The group has been around for over 15 years, originally formed in Mesa, Arizona back in ’93. The band is no longer touring their newest release, Chase This Light, their 6th studio album in total. It was released last October, and has shown a slight decrease in their popularity. However, there was no sign of slowing momentum last night, as fans of all ages waited outside to get front stage sight lines.

There was one opener, Belgium’s emo meets electro band, Styrofoam. On stage at 20.00, they played a 45 minute set. There new album, A Thousand Words, is set to be released April 20th in the UK and Europe, and on May 27th in North America. The band hadn’t played a live show since they toured with achingly beautiful harmonic trio, Low, from Duluth, Minnesota, in July 2006. Styrofoam’s brand of emotionally delivered vocals and repetitious synth chords was half heartedly received by the crowd, who made it expressly clear they were hear for one reason: to sing along to all their Jimmy Eat World favorites. Styrofoam’s female keyboardist, was the highlight of the show. She pulled off some of the strangest dance moves with a straight face since the untimely death of Ian Curtis.

Jimmy Eat World took the stage, and could only hold off one song before pulling out an old stand by, 'Sweetness.' This was a common theme throughout the night. 'These new songs are fun,' tempted lead singer Jim Adkins, 'but we’ve been rehearsing a lot of our older stuff too.' A thunderous roar shook the Roundhouse foundation. The mix of emo-teens and over 30 alternative rock fans sang joyously to the biggest hits off the 2001 release, Bleed American, and the 1998 release, Clarity. Adkins came out alone for the first song of the encore, playing an acoustic version of the song 'Angels,' before being joined by the full band for three more.