Party Like It's 2001: Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American Turns 25 on Chicago’s Lakefront

Aug 23

By Christopher David

One of indie rock’s most enduring and beloved bands, Arizona quartet Jimmy Eat World brought their 25th anniversary tour celebrating their landmark album Bleed American to Northerly Island this week after rescheduling back in June, bringing along some friends and a whole lot of bright, anthemic hooks.

You know your tour is something special when Sunny Day Real Estate and The Get Up Kids are the supporting acts - a one-two-three punch if ever there was one, and both bands delivered stellar sets that dipped into most of their respective catalogs, with the Kids focusing a chunk of their set revisiting their 1999 emo classic Something to Write Home About.

Jim Adkins remains one of the most earnest voices in indie rock, and while Jimmy Eat World have never been fully ‘emo,’ his emotional range and passionate vocal delivery has always been one of the band’s hallmarks; seeing Bleed American from start to finish, one couldn’t help but think back to its 2001 release and just how much the world has changed, even when truly timeless albums don’t. The title track remains one of the best rock songs of that era, and, of course, “The Middle” and “Sweetness” erupted with singalongs from the crowd. The bittersweet “Lucky Denver Mint” was a highlight, as was the encore that leaned heavily into the band’s 2005 follow-up Futures.

“The me that recorded Bleed American wouldn’t have believed that this was going to happen,” Adkins noted at one point. “Twenty-five years later? It’s nothing we ever could have imagined or expected.” But the best albums are like that, Jimmy Eat World has continued to make good on the promise of that album as both a live band and one that continues to make excellent records.