Back in August, Jimmy Eat World announced a special hometown Phoenix show celebrating the 20th anniversary of their fifth album, 2004’s Futures. They’ve now announced that it will also stream live on Veeps, on October 17 at 11 PM ET (and on-demand for 72 hours after). Tickets to watch are on sale now.
The show happens at The Van Buren on 10/17, and will be Jimmy Eat World’s only hometown show this year.
We named Futures one of the best emo and post-hardcore albums of 2004, where we wrote:
After 2001’s Bleed American turned Jimmy Eat World into long-overdue stars, they used their new rock star status as a chance to get weird again. Futures found Jimmy Eat World taking everything they learned about writing a Big Rock Record on Bleed American and combining it with the darker, more experimental songs they were writing on their 1999 cult classic Clarity. Following three consecutive albums produced by Mark Trombino, they made this one with Gil Norton, whose credits include Pixies’ Doolittle and Foo Fighters’ The Colour and the Shape. It sounds larger than life, and it’s a masterclass in toeing the line between creative risk-taking and world-conquering hooks.
Futures‘ biggest single is “Pain” but its best is “Work.” The song’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”-gone-emo guitarpeggio and top-of-your-lungs chorus are both total ear candy, on par with any of Bleed American‘s biggest singles. It’s Futures‘ most purely euphoric pop moment. Elsewhere on this LP, Jimmy Eat World bust out the heavier, tech-ier, borderline-metal riffs of “Futures,” “Just Tonight,” and “Nothing Wrong,” and even those songs have soaring pop choruses. Then there’s the total Clarity-core of “Drugs Or Me,” “Polaris,” “Night Drive,” and “23,” darker slow-burners that leave you hanging on every note. The secret weapon, in my humble opinion, is “Kill,” a song that kinda falls in the middle of all of Futures‘ different directions. It’s as somber and bittersweet as it is a totally infectious singalong, and a huge highlight of the band’s live show to this day. (Should’ve been a single!) Bleed American‘s highs are higher than Futures, but this is a more consistent, cohesive record, and it really helped solidify Jimmy Eat World as lifers. To some, they’re just “The Middle” and “Sweetness,” but they’ve maintained a sizable diehard fanbase for three decades because their biggest hits are backed up by strong-as-fuck albums like this one.
Jimmy Eat World are on tour through November; see all dates below.
JIMMY EAT WORLD: 2024 TOUR DATES
25 Sep Palacio de los Deportes Mexico, Mexico
27 Sep Arena VFG Tlajomulco De Zuñiga, Mexico
29 Sep South Star Music Festival 2024 Huntsville, AL
17 Oct The Van Buren Phoenix, AZ
19 Oct When We Were Young 2024 Las Vegas, NV
20 Oct When We Were Young 2024 Las Vegas, NV
07 Nov Columbiahalle Berlin, Germany
08 Nov Schlachthof München, Germany
09 Nov Turbinenhalle Oberhausen, Germany
11 Nov Paradiso Amsterdam, Netherlands
13 Nov O2 Academy Glasgow Glasgow, United Kingdom
14 Nov O2 Victoria Warehouse Manchester Stretford, United Kingdom
15 Nov Alexandra Palace London, United Kingdom