Rockin’ the clam

By Martha Spalding

The curtain opened. Vertically and horizontally stacked television sets were placed in an organized mess. A backdrop with the outline of a futuristic cityscape hung floor to ceiling along the back of the stage. The crowd cheered as the band, Jimmy Eat World, launched into their first song.

On Sunday night, Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday played to a near sold out crowd at Assembly Hall. Jimmy Eat World had just flown in from Japan the night before and began touring with their new album, Futures. Before the show began, many loyal fans were crowded in front of the stage.

Even though this was the first day of their 2005 tour, it wasn’t the first time Jimmy Eat World, led by Jim Adkins on lead vocals and guitar, Tom Linton on guitar, Rick Burch on bass and Zach Lind on drums, played at the University.

Adkins said in an interview after the show, that back in ’95-’96 if they played in the Champaign-Urbana area, it was only in basements and other local clubs. He said it felt very different to be coming back on a headlining tour.

“It’s pretty weird. I’m used to the previous shows at small clubs. But we rocked the clam,” he said, in reference to the unique shape of Assembly Hall.

Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!

  • Catch the latest on University of Illinois news, sports, and more. Delivered every weekday.
  • Stay up to date on all things Illini sports. Delivered every Monday.
Thank you for subscribing!

That night, Jimmy Eat World wasn’t the only band to “rock the clam.”

The Format, an Arizona band, was the opening act with a five-song set. Then Taking Back Sunday, led by Adam Lazzara on lead vocals, Fred Mascherino and Eddie Reyes on guitars, Mark O’Connell on drums and Matt Rubano on bass, took the stage.

Brad Graham, freshman in FAA, said he found the show “quite enjoyable” and really liked Taking Back Sunday’s stage setup. They had a backdrop with a grid of multicolored lights on it that flashed different patterns throughout all of their songs.

“The different colored lights in the background made the whole show a lot better,” he said.

Graham also said that between the two bands, he enjoyed watching Taking Back Sunday more. He said he thought it was cool how the singer would take his red microphone by the cord, spin it in a circle and wrap it around his neck during the songs.

“Taking Back Sunday was a lot more crazy,” he said. “They were more fun to watch, especially with the singer’s awesome microphone thing.”

University students weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the show. There were also some out-of-town fans in attendance.

Brandon Havrilka drove up from Sherman, Ill. and said he thought the two-hour drive was well worth it.

“I really liked the crazy stuff with the mic,” he said. “They really put on a professional show.”

Candis Vlasek also drove out of her way to get to the show. She drove four hours from Milwaukee in order to see Taking Back Sunday perform live. She said they always put on amazing shows.

During the show, Taking Back Sunday also gave the audience a sneak peak of two new songs.

“Only four other people have heard these songs,” Lazzara said during the show. “And it looks like there are more than four people here tonight. I stopped counting at six.”

Vlasek said hearing the new songs was one of the highlights of the show.

“I really, really liked the new songs,” she said. “I can’t wait for their next album to come out. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Taking Back Sunday played 17 songs before Jimmy Eat World took the stage to end the night.

Stephen Moll, freshman in LAS, said he thought Jimmy Eat World’s performance was very well thought out and appealed to everyone in the crowd.

“There was a good mix of songs,” he said. “They definitely hit home with their entire fan base by playing material from almost all of their studio albums.”

Moll also really liked the television sets on stage. He said he thought the band did a good job of dressing up the stage so it didn’t look boring.

“The TV sets added some life to the average band’s stage set up,” he said.

Moll also got a chance to meet with Jimmy Eat World after the show was over. He said he was really impressed with how nice and down-to-earth all of the band members were.

“It was cool of them to stand out there and sign autographs and talk to 25 people they have never met before,” Moll said.