552 JIMMY EAT WORLD, Midtown, Bristol Academy, Thursday 28 March 2002

They're dropping like flies at the moment! This time Ady had to pull out at short notice as he had to get his patio re-laid (!), but luckily Tim could join Rachel and myself for this sell-out show at short notice. So we hit the road at 7 and parked up in the multi-storey, hitting the already-packed venue for just after 8.

Got a bar balcony viewing slot at this venue, which had been revised since my last visit (more dancefloor and upper balcony space), for support act Midtown, from Noo Joisey. They came on to Guns'N'Roses' "Sweet Child Of Mine" and rocked out in a rather generic pop-punk kind of way, like Blink 182 without the cartoon geekiness. Some good moments but unspectacular fayre overall, but they went down a storm with the kids in the mosh, finishing their set with a refrain from "God Gave Rock'N'Roll To You".

Met an old Bristol buddy - another Tim! - for a chat at the bar, before taking my place again for Jimmy Eat World, on at 20 past 9. Again, they took the stage to no intro music or fanfare, and kicked in with "A Praise Chorus" from "Bleed American". I have to say that the early part of their set, whilst having much of their trademark sensitive poppy punk sound, was either a little too note-perfectly polite or flat for my liking, and it wasn't until the slow burn of "Anderson Mesa", with its' hypnotic guitar lines, that the set really kicked off. The haunting and catchy "Lucky Denver Mint", up next, was their best number all night, and they kicked on from there to close the set in a more emphatic and energetic manner. A messy yet energetic "Bleed American" (introduced as such by vocalist Jim Adkins, rather than by its post-9/11 name "Salt Sweat Sugar") closed the set, and the encores of the jaunty sing-along "The Middle" and superb new single "Sweetness", with its' nod to Buffalo Tom's classic "Velvet Roof", really put the exclamation point of a set which started slowly but ended with a roar. A bit of a lift and car-park exit-mare on the way out and home, but still back home for midnight!