Even amid all the throwback artists on the When We Were Young festival lineup, Jimmy Eat World is something of an elder statesman of the scene. Having formed in 1993, the Arizona rockers spent many years playing tiny venues and basement shows leading up to their early 2000s breakout with “The Middle.”
Given their long history and the nostalgic vibes of the festival, When We Were Young seems like a fitting place to bring out an early cuts Jimmy Eat World set. However, as frontman Jim Adkins tells ABC Audio, he’s not sure that’d be such a good idea.
“If we did go with a set of, like, what we would be playing at a basement gig in ’97, I don’t know if people are really gonna dig that,” Adkins shares. “I mean, there’d definitely be some people [thinking], ‘Yeah, cool,’ but I don’t know if enough of those people would spread the love to win over an audience.”
Still, longtime Jimmy Eat World fans can expect to hear a few deep cuts at When We Were Young.
“We’ll definitely include some of the older songs that we don’t normally play, or don’t play all that often, especially at a festival,” Adkins says. “I don’t know if we’ll make a whole set out of it, though.”
Adkins adds that he and his bandmates will “definitely change” up the set list between each of their performances over When We Were Young’s three days.
“I think there might be some people that go to multiple gigs, which is wild,” Adkins says.
When We Were Young takes place October 22, 23 and 29 in Las Vegas. The bill includes My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Bring Me the Horizon, A Day to Remember and Avril Lavigne, among many, many more.
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