Well here we are in 2021 and sadly, COVID is still with us. For musicians, this means tours have been cancelled or postponed until fall of this year at the soonest. But some have chosen to go another route to connect with fans: live stream concerts.
To be honest, I can't say the idea excites me much. Paying to watch a band perform without the experience of being there? That just ain't it for me! I can go on youtube and pull up hours and hours of performances for free! Why bother?
Well, then Jimmy Eat World announced they'd be streaming three concerts, playing Surviving, Futures, and Clarity in full. Surviving is one of the most important albums to me, as I documented in my Top Albums of 2019 post, so I was kinda tempted. But then I logged on to Facebook, where I am a part of a large and active Jimmy Eat World fan group, and I knew that if I didn't get in on these shows, I'd be kicking myself for missing out.
The first show was released on Friday, January 15th at 4 PM central, so I was unable to tune in during the initial airing. I finally found some time this morning, Sunday, to charge up my good headphones, and settled in with a mug of coffee to finally watch the show.
I had seen a few posts on the facebook group with regards to the show. A few were critical of things like how it was shot, or that it wasn't actually live, or how the band sounded, but honestly I didn't feel like any of that took away from it.
Shot in 12k (I didn't even know that we were to 12k already! Last I heard we were at 8k?!) the show was stunning. The production was very well done, and it felt like a concert film more than just a livestream, making it worth the cost of admission. The visuals and lighting in the background really added to the live show vibe.
Most importantly, the band sounded great in that they sounded live. I didn't feel like I was just listening to the album and watching them play, I was watching a performance!
I was pleasantly surprised there was a bit of talking between a few songs. I'm not sure if I'm on record here saying it, but if I'm at a show and the band doesn't acknowledge the crowd in some way, I'm not going to enjoy it as much (see Panic! At the Disco at the Fiserv Forum, January 2019). Give me some crowd interaction, and I'm gonna be that much more invested (see Taking Back Sunday at First Ave, April 2019).
At the end of the show, the band walked off and the sound of a phone ringing began as the visual in the background faded in with a photo of a phonebooth, the cover of Futures, the next album in the series. I was very impressed with that detail tying the shows together and I'm that much more excited for the next show on January 29th.
Do I regret not jumping on board for livestream shows by other bands like All Time Low or Marianas Trench? Not really. While I love those bands, I feel like I have a deeper connection with Jimmy Eat World's music, especially Surviving. If anything, it's made me more certain that I'd definitely be on board now if My Chemical Romance or IDKHOW did a live show.
(hint hint universe)
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