Concerts Reviews
Music as Medicine: The Lumineers Play Two Nights at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum
On September 8th, 2010, Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites played their first show in Los Angeles; in the back of Molly Malone’s, an Irish Pub that is beloved by Angelenos. Fifteen years later, the pair better known as The Lumineers, headlined two nights at one of the largest venues in the city, the Kia Forum. In a night celebrating five albums and twenty years of musical partnership between Schultz and Fraites, rather than simply playing to August 9th’s sold out crowd, The Lumineers performed a love letter to the community they have cultivated.
London based singer-songwriter Tom Odell kicked off the night with ‘“Don’t Let Me Go”, the lead single from his upcoming album A Wonderful Life that is set to release on September 5th. With a four piece band backing him, Odell played piano while alternating between songs from his debut album, Long Way Down, and previous album Black Friday. Halfway through his set, he introduced his newest song “Ugly”, which had only been released the day before. Odell began the song with a dedication: “To anybody in the audience who might’ve had a moment in their lives where they looked at themselves and didn’t like what they saw, I want to remind those people tonight that you are in fact incredibly beautiful, and I dedicate this song to you,”. Odell’s powerful vocals warmed up the crowd quickly, with even those who had never heard his music before loudly cheering him on. While his set was short, it set the room abuzz and laid the groundwork for an incredible night to follow.
The Lumineers followed soon after, opening with “Same Old Song”, the lead single from their newest album Automatic. The energy in the room was immediately electric. The band played old favorites like “Flowers in Your Hair” and “Charlie Boy”, and sprinkled in hits from the new album. Before playing “Asshole”, Schultz remarked that several people in his life, including his wife of over ten years, Brandy, thought he was an asshole when they first met him. In a way, Schultz presented “Asshole” as an ode to those in the audience who seem rough and ragged around the edges.
They then played “BRIGHTSIDE”, the titular track off of their fourth album, and Schultz jumped down into the pit to make his way through the crowd. He made it all the way to the rafters in the section farthest from the stage, giving fans high fives along the way. Shortly after, the band started their dark ballad “Salt and the Sea” from their album III, and brought Tom Odell back out to the stage with loud cheers from the audience ensuing. He joined Schultz on vocals for the second verse, adding a deeper layer to an already emotionally charged song. They couldn’t let Odell leave without showcasing his incredible piano playing alongside Fraites’ own talent; Fraites slid over on his bench making room for Odell to sit next to him, and the two played the piano outro together.
As the night continued, a fan favorite, “Big Parade”, began. Schultz announced that the band was going to try something different– instead of him singing the whole song, all seven of the band members were going to take their own verse. As they traded off, Schultz gave a quick intro for each of them. First up was Lauren Jacobson, violinist extraordinaire. Guitarist and percussionist Brandon Miller took the next verse, and the crowd learned that he initially started as a member of the band’s crew, but he was so talented that they asked him to join them on stage. Then came Byron Isaacs’ turn, The Lumineers’ bass player of over ten years who they met while recording their second album, Cleopatra. Stelth Ulvang was next, who Schultz coined the “Pedro Pascal of the piano”. Ulvang was so excited to take his turn that he accidentally ripped the cord out of his microphone when running over to center stage. While he didn’t sing, percussionist Reverend Derek Brown was the next to be featured; Fraites let him take over his drum kit for a solo that made the crowd go wild. Finally, Schultz put the spotlight on Fraites, who according to Schultz was about to do something that in the twenty years of making music together he hadn’t done– sing in front of a crowd. The crowd went wild. In the verse Fraites sang, the final line was fittingly “They know all his words by heart, by heart and they all sing”.
As the evening was starting to come to an end, Schultz let the audience know that they had been playing with heavy hearts– at the end of May, his younger brother, Sam, suddenly passed away from a heart attack. The band was in Europe at the time, over 4,000 miles away from their shared hometown of Denver, Colorado, but Schultz decided to carry on with the tour. He remarked that “nights like this are really healing,” and that he was “in a strange headspace, but [he’s] also in one that provides [him] with a little bit of clarity on what music has meant to [him],”. Just the week before their run at The Forum, the band headlined Mile High Stadium in Denver, making Colorado history by being the first local artists to do so. The very next day they all attended Sam’s funeral. Following Schultz’ tribute, they then dedicated their next song to Sam, an emotional cover of Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind”.
They finished the night with arguably their biggest hits– “Cleopatra” and “Stubborn Love”. One of the most powerful lyrics in the latter is “It’s better to feel pain, than nothing at all. The opposite of love’s indifference”; a very fitting closing to an emotional night of both the band and audience coming together to use live music to heal. “I’m also just grateful that I get to pour my heart out and just give some sort of service to other people in this time, because I feel like I would be useless otherwise. So thank you for letting us serve you guys… thank you for being here, thank you for letting us pour our hearts out and mean something,” said Schultz.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
The Lumineers have several stops left on their Automatic World Tour; find more info here.
Upcoming Automatic World Tour Dates:
2025
8/13 Bend, OR Hayden Homes Amphitheater
8/14 Bend, OR Hayden Homes Amphitheater
8/16 Seattle, WA T-Mobile Park
8/30 Chicago, IL Soldier Field
9/3 Darien Center, NY Darien Lake Amphitheater
9/6 Washington, DC Nationals Park
9/8 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage
9/9 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage
9/11 Louisville, KY Bourbon & Beyond Festival
9/13 Detroit, MI Comerica Park
9/16 Raleigh, NC Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
9/17 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
9/19 Philadelphia, PA Citizens Bank Park
9/21 Richmond, VA Iron Blossom Music Festival
9/23 Greenville, SC Bon Secours Wellness Arena
9/26 Charleston, SC Credit One Stadium
9/27 Savannah, GA Enmarket Arena
9/30 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center
10/1 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
10/3 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
10/4 Atlanta, GA State Farm Arena
10/7 Hollywood, FL Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
10/8 Tampa, FL Amalie Arena
10/10 The Woodlands, TX The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman
10/11 Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena
10/14 Austin, TX Moody Center
10/17 Mexico City, MX Pepsi Center WTC
10/18 Mexico City, MX Pepsi Center WTC
11/7 Scottsdale, AZ Dreamy Draw Festival
2026
1/3 Christchurch, NZ Christchurch Town Hall
1/6 Auckland, NZ Spark Arena
1/9 Melbourne, AU Sidney Myer Music Bowl
1/13 Brisbane, AU Brisbane Entertainment Centre
1/16 Sydney, AU Qudos Bank Arena
1/18 Adelaide, AU Adelaide Entertainment Centre
1/21 Perth, AU RAC Arena
1/24 Singapore, SG Fort Canning Green
1/27 Manila, PH New Frontier Theater
1/29 Tokyo, JP Zepp Haneda
2/1 Delhi, IN Huda Ground
2/4 Cape Town, ZA Grand Arena at Grand West
2/7 Pretoria, ZA Sunbet Arena at Time Square Casino
THE LUMINEERS
TOM ODELL
All Photo Credit: Kelsie Kerr
Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: Jimmy Eat World Brings Bleed American Back to Life in Vancouver
There are some concerts you go to with no idea what you’re going to get. A 25th anniversary tour built around one of the best albums out there is not one of them. You know the songs, the order, exactly when the big moments are coming ; the only real question is whether the band can make those songs feel as alive as they did the first time you heard them. Jimmy Eat World had no trouble answering that question.
On July 19, the Arizona rock band finally returned to the Vancouver area for the first time since 2017, bringing the Bleed American 25th Anniversary Tour to the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. It had been a long wait, and the packed room made it clear that fans had not forgotten what they had been waiting for.
Motion City Soundtrack opened the night, giving the crowd a strong dose of early-2000s nostalgia before Jimmy Eat World took the stage. It was a fitting pairing. Both bands came of age during a period when alternative rock, pop-punk and emo could still find a home on mainstream radio, and both have built careers that outlasted the era that first made them famous.
For me, though, the night carried a more personal weight for a different reason: this was my first time seeing Jimmy Eat World live. After more than three decades as a band, and nearly a decade since their last Vancouver appearance, the fact that it took until 2026 for me to finally see them live made the wait feel even more significant.
Jimmy Eat World began the evening with songs from Clarity, their 1999 breakthrough album, including “Clarity,” “Your New Aesthetic,” “Blister,” and “Lucky Denver Mint.” It was a smart choice. The band could have gone straight into Bleed American and given everyone exactly what they came for, but those opening songs made a point: Jimmy Eat World did not suddenly become a great band in 2001. They had already been doing this for years.
Then they switched to “Bleed American,” and the stage itself transformed. A large wall that had kept the full production hidden from view moved aside, revealing the expanded Bleed American stage setup behind it. The lighting rig opened up across the width of the stage, giving the band a much bigger canvas for the album that had changed their career. It was a smart bit of theatre without feeling overproduced.
The album was performed from beginning to end, and hearing it in sequence made one thing very clear: Bleed American is an unusually complete record. The obvious hits are there, but so are the songs that tend to get pushed aside when a band is working with a limited setlist.
“A Praise Chorus” remains an absolute rush. “The Middle,” one of JEW‘s biggest and most recognizable hits, turned the venue into a massive singalong. “Sweetness” took that energy even further, with thousands of people shouting every “whoa-oh” back at the stage. “Get It Faster” brought the aggression. “Your House” offered one of the night’s more affecting moments. And “Hear You Me” remains one of those songs that can stop you in your tracks, even after you’ve heard it hundreds of times.
The beauty of hearing Bleed American played from start to finish is getting the full picture. The album has explosive highs, quieter emotional moments and everything in between. Songs that don’t always get the spotlight in a regular setlist suddenly have room to breathe.
Jim Adkins remains a compelling frontman, delivering these songs with the same sincerity that made them work in the first place. Tom Linton’s guitar playing was sharp and energetic, while Rick Burch and Zach Lind continued to provide the steady foundation that has held this band together for more than three decades.
There was no sense that the band was simply going through the motions of an anniversary tour. They looked like they were having fun and so did the fans.
That crowd was one of the best parts of the night. Fans who discovered Bleed American when it was released stood beside younger listeners who weren’t even alive when the album came out. Everybody seemed to know the words.
The main set ended with “My Sundown,” bringing the album to its quiet conclusion before the band briefly left the stage.
Jimmy Eat World returned for a five-song encore that moved beyond Bleed American, opening with “Disintegration” and continuing through “Pain,” “For Me This Is Heaven” and “(Splash) Turn Twist” before closing with “23.” It was a fitting reminder that Bleed American may have been the record that changed the band’s career, but it is only one piece of a catalog that has kept giving fans reasons to stick around.
Twenty-five years after Bleed American changed everything for the band, these songs haven’t become museum pieces. They’re very much still capable of making a room full of people lose their voices.
And after waiting nine years to see Jimmy Eat World back in Vancouver, I can say this with complete confidence: it was worth the wait.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
Upcoming Tour Dates:
July 22 –– Sandy, UT –– Sandy Amphitheater
July 24 –– Concord, CA –– Toyota Pavilion at Concord
July 25-26 –– Long Beach, CA –– Vans Warped Tour
August 14 –– Halifax, UK –– The Piece Hall
August 15 –– Cardiff, UK –– Cardiff Castle
August 16 –– London, UK –– Gunnersbury Park
August 22 –– Montreal, QC –– Vans Warped Tour
August 23 –– Toronto, ON –– RBC Amphitheatre
September 6 –– Phoenix, AZ –– Chase Field, supporting My Chemical Romance
September 9 –– Austin, TX –– Moody Amphitheater
September 10 –– Dallas, TX –– The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
September 12-13 –– Mexico City, MX –– Vans Warped Tour
November 12 –– Nashville, TN –– TBA
November 14 –– Tampa, FL –– MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
November 14-15 –– Orlando, FL –– Vans Warped Tour
More information here.
JIMMY EAT WORLD
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK
All Photo Credit: Caroline Charruyer
Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: Screaming All Around Me – Flyleaf Live in Silver Spring
What started as a string of festival appearances over the past few years has turned into a reunion tour over a decade in the making. When Lacey Sturm left Flyleaf in 2012, it left an enormous hole in one of the defining bands of the 2000s. The band continued touring with a new vocalist while Sturm took some time off, eventually returning to the stage with her solo project. In 2022, the band’s social media pages were reactivated, and they took to the festival circuit, with Sturm once again at the helm.
Earlier this year, the band’s self-titled album’s 20-year anniversary tour was announced to much fanfare, with thousands of likes and comments adorning the post. The tour finally reached Silver Spring and could not have come sooner. Fans filled into a sold-out Fillmore just a few miles from Our Nation’s Capital on Wednesday night for one of the shows of the summer.
The show was opened by two very capable bands. Tiny Ships, an alt-rock band native to New Jersey, took to the stage first. They brought a great sound and strong stage presence. Although they are a little rough around the edges, they will likely grow into a solid band as they gain more experience. Opening for Flyleaf on a sold-out show definitely says something about their future and gives a good indication of where their career is heading!
Ohio Christian Metalcore band Convictions played next and absolutely dominated every corner of the Fillmore’s stage. Unclean vocalist Michael Felker made his way from side to side with what seemed to be the goal of screaming in the face of every front row fan. The band has a very gritty sound that just makes you want to jump twenty feet in the air and then go for ten-mile run through the desert. They played a ten-song set and really stole the show. If Flyleaf was not headlining, the band would easily be the best band on any bill they open for. I would not be surprised if the band is earning some prominent festival slots and headlining their own sold-out shows soon. Check Convictions out if they are playing a show near you. You won’t regret it!
After the extreme adrenaline of Convictions started to wear down, the energy picked right back up as Sturm and crew made their way onto the stage. It is very common for some fans who came for the openers to leave early when the headliner comes out, but not a single person left the venue early on Wednesday night. They were all there to relive the songs of their teenage angst years all over again.
After a preshow prayer from Sturm, drawing on her religious roots, the set started right off with a bang of a back-to-back dosing of “In the Dark and Chasm.” It is a lucky thing that I wear really good earplugs at shows, or else I might have some hearing damage from how loud the screams were inside the Fillmore. Sturm commanded the crowd with a masterful control. Every movement she made was followed by thousands of eyes awaiting the next great moment on an already amazing evening.
The crowd’s voice was warmed up by the time Sturm requested some participation on Fire Fire. The 2012 track from the band’s last release with Sturm was a huge favorite and a big highlight from the early part of the set. “Cassie,” “Freedom,” and “Stand” filled out the ending part of the first half of the show. Even though the show was half over, it seemed to just be kicking into gear.
The back half of the night was filled with all the songs that a Flyleaf show would be incomplete without. “Cage on the Ground” kicked off the second half, followed by “This Close” and “Saving Grace.” It was extremely hard to hear the bass of Pat Seals, or the guitars of Sameer Bhattacharya and Jared Hartmann with how much the crowd participation filled the venue with noise. James Culpepper’s drums cut right through the noise though and gave a thumping kick to keep the Fillmore on beat.
“Fully Alive” started to signal that the show was unfortunately close to an end which was met with calls for the night to never end. After a sermon from Sturm following “I’m So Sick,” the band launched into one of the most defining songs in rock music, “All Around Me.” The bumping chorus juxtaposed with the soft and sweet vocal melody showcase Flyleaf’s superior musical composition skills and ensured that a new generation of Flyleaf fans would be born with the large number of kids in attendance.
Overall, the show was just top notch. Sturm and Flyleaf’s reunion was well worth the wait. Unfortunately, if this review convinced you to purchase a ticket to the closest Flyleaf show, you may be out of luck as like the Fillmore, every other venue on the tour has sold out as well. Hopefully this tour was not a one-off for the band though and will lead to new music and another decade of shows around the world.
Check out our favorite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
FLYLEAF
All Photo Credit: Ryan Renger