Jimmy Eat World and Paramore performed to a sold-out crowd in AU's Bender Arena Saturday night. They didn't disappoint.
Opening group Dear and the Headlights started the night off well, displaying a confidence and maturity rarely seen in opening acts. Their straightforward rock sound, reminiscent of Taking Back Sunday, was appropriate for the concert line-up.
Paramore, the group that perhaps had the most on-stage energy, brought Bender Arena to a new level of frenzy as they played fan favorites such as "Here We Go Again," "Misery Business" and their breakout single, "Pressure." They performed with a high level of polish and kept the performance moving. The band members kept the stage in constant motion with their head banging and acrobatic jumps while they played guitar.
Lead singer Hayley Williams pushed out a surprisingly consistent and powerful tone from her diminutive form. Williams ricocheted all over the stage, throwing her trademark electric orange hair from side to side as she danced on the stage.
But the band retained an air of humility despite the high energy with which they performed. They frequently thanked D.C. and throwing the city into their song lyrics. "Our dreams are coming true because of you," Williams said between songs. "You, us, you, we've done it."
Paramore, who debuted in 2005 with the album "All We Know is Falling," made sure to also thank their self-proclaimed musical influences and tour-mates, Jimmy Eat World.
"I say this every night but I really mean it with all my heart," Williams said. "We wouldn't be here tonight ... without the next band, Jimmy Eat World."
After a surprisingly concise set change, headliners Jimmy Eat World took the stage. They opened with "Big Casino," the first single off their most recent album, "Chase This Light." The boys from Jimmy immediately set the tone for the evening by playing "Sweetness" next, and continued to interweave old and new material.
Jimmy played tracks from almost every one of their albums during the performance, which helped them demonstrate how they've lasted 15 years in the business. Tight, clean transitions and intense melodies with intriguing instrumentation created an ego-less show that connected with the hundreds of fans in the audience.
There were also no technical difficulties to mar the concert. Bender transitioned from its usual role as a sports arena into a venue that rivaled any corporate music club. Hundreds of challenging lighting cues went off without a hitch and the numerous banners magically appeared and disappeared on cue, giving the audience a show that appealed to all senses.
Though crowd surfers at times distracted from the overall experience, the band's sound was never overcome by the screams from the audience. Lead singer Jim Adkins' voice stayed strong and reverberated just as polished and earnest as on the band's recordings.
The band's songs held up well to live performance - often the make-or-break moment for a band. Their banter with the audience was sparse - the guys let their music do the talking. They played songs like "Just Tonight," "23" and "Bleed American" with such drive and energy that the security guards even took a moment to play air guitar.
After "Pain," the band bowed and left the stage, but they couldn't fool the audience. They stayed off the stage only long enough to wipe the sweat from their faces before heading back out and performing the gentle "Hear You Me," complete with illuminations from cell phones.
But Jimmy Eat World picked the tempo back up with "Futures," complete with strobe light effects. Adkins took a moment to thank the crowd for coming and joke about the pile of shoes from the crowd surfers that had accumulated at the front of the stage.
"We've got one more song, then we'll go do something else," Adkins told the screaming crowd before the band began their last song of the night, the hit single "The Middle."
As they exited the arena, Vicky Nova, a 17-year-old from Chantilly, Va., who said she has followed the band since she was seven years old, gushed over the performance.
"It was amazing," she said. "So good."
Kaitlin Censky, a student at Virginia Tech and a fan of Jimmy Eat World since she was in eighth grade, said she drove up from the Blacksburg, Va., campus to attend the concert with her friends.
"I haven't lost any love for them at all," she said.
After an intense performance, one can hardly imagine Jimmy Eat World as amateur musicians. But they proved their fame through hard work and dedication and solidified their credibility in the D.C. scene.
