JEW clarity show in NYC

feb 23 - 2009, terminal 5, nyc

i've written about the debacle part of the ny trip, now to mention the most glorious aspect. namely the reason for the trip itself: seeing the first of 10 shows that jimmy eat world are in the midst of playing across the states. 2009 marks the 10 year anniversary of their album clarity (one of my favourites of all time). in fact, frontman jim adkins stated that february 23 was 10 years to the day of their cd release show, making the start date of the tour hardly coincidental.

here is the set list from that night:

1. table for glasses
2. lucky denver mint
3. your new aesthetic
4. believe in what you want
5. a sunday
6. crush
7. 12.23.95
8. ten
9. just watch the fireworks
10. for me this is heaven
11. blister
12. clarity
13. goodbye sky harbour

encore:

14. what i would say to you now
15. no sensitivity
16. work
17. the middle
18. sweetness

for most of the clarity portion of the show the band seemed content to blister (pun intended) through the set, as if to get it done as quickly as they could. i think it could be attributed to nerves, though i'll never know. they may have also been looking to uphold a certain level of continuity through the album which would also contribute to the quick turn around between songs.

the crowd also left something to be desired. i was hoping they would reflect an older dichotomy of jew fans. ones who loved the band long before the middle was released. it's possible that these people did make up a large portion of the crowd, but it wasn't immediately apparent as i had hoped. i'm also willing to accept that i'm generalizing based on my surroundings. the venue was large enough (and was two levels) that i could have easily misjudged.

my personal favourites were 'a sunday', 'for me this is heaven', 'goodbye sky harbour' and 'no sensitivity'. 'a sunday' because i thought it was particularly well performed and sounded great. i've loved 'for me this is heaven' since i was 18 and had never seen that song live. 'goodbye sky harbour' has a particular place in my heart as it features the line 'i am but one small instrument' which is permanently inked on my body. they also did a stunning job of recreating the 14ish minute looped outro on the album. the only song i hoped to hear in the encore (since ever other song i'd want to hear was on clarity) was 'no sensitivity', an obscure track that appears on a split with a band called jebediah. that was a very pleasant surprise.

i was really disappointed that they played the middle. i thought this was the one show where they wouldn't need to pander to everyone by playing that schlock of a song. jim adkins introduced the song by saying it was a kind of a joke track that somehow ended up on bleed american. what i heard was 'yea we know this song sucks but here it is'.

i'm thrilled that i got to see this show and in spite of some detraction's mentioned above the bottom line is that i got to see one of my favourite bands perform one of my favourite albums in one of my favourite cities with some of my favourite people. it really doesn't get any better and i consider myself very lucky to have been there.