Credit: Steve ThrasherThis Friday, Jimmy Eat World will launch Phoenix Sessions, a trio of streaming concerts. After putting out a few acoustic videos on social media and YouTube, Phoenix Sessions will mark “The Middle” rockers’ first full-production virtual shows.
Speaking with ABC Audio, frontman Jim Adkins explains that he and his band mates wanted to contemplate the “opportunity” streaming concerts could provide in putting Phoenix Sessions together.
“There is no audience, you don’t have to think about it in the typical stage setup of band versus audience kind of look,” Adkins shares. “‘Cause when there is no audience, that just feels really cold. So, how could you make that cool? What could be different?”
With that in mind, Adkins and company set out to employ different production elements and camera techniques that wouldn’t work during a normal, in-person show. Additionally, each stream will feature a performance of a full album, starting with Jimmy Eat World’s latest effort, 2019’s Surviving, followed by 2004’s Futures and 1999’s Clarity.
While Jimmy Eat World’s done full album shows in the past for milestone anniversaries, Adkins feels that those kinds of sets started to feel stale under normal touring circumstances.
“You can’t really do that all the time,” he laughs. “Once you’re around long enough where you have a few albums that start hitting the 10-year mark, then it’s like, ‘What, you’re gonna do this every time that happens, really?’ There’s kind of an overload of that, and I think people were getting sick of it.”
Adkins thinks, however, that streaming full album performances is a treat for fans that doesn’t come with a whole commitment.
“This is a great way to do it that doesn’t take up two months of your life to tour with,” he says.
By Josh Johnson
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