Jimmy Eat World, 15/09/13, Leeds O2 Academy

It's that time of year again. All the festivals are done and dusted, the weather's getting horrible, and all the bands take to the tour buses and head out for another run. For me, it's Jimmy Eat World up first for the latter half of 2013. After seeing them at Download, I had to see them again on this small tour.

Support tonight comes in the form of Essex four piece, We Are The Ocean. A very fitting support act, We Are The Ocean's more mature sound on 2012's 'Maybe Today Maybe Tomorrow' is a good warm up for what came afterwards. Opening with 'Trouble is Temporary, Time is Tonic' touches upon where they once were. Liam Cromby manages to get through the song, originally recorded as dual vocals with ex-singer, Dan Brown. It's a good thing, not to leave behind 'Go Now and Live' as it's a brilliant album, but it's obvious Cromby struggles at times. He sounds much more comfortable singing newer material. 'Bleed' gets everyone clapping along, 'Runaway' is a hands in the air power ballad and 'Young Heart' is even more emotional live. It's closer 'The Waiting Room' that gets everyone going 'oh, yeah, I know who they are now'.

Jimmy Eat World are a band of little banter, less showy off, no extravagant pyrotechnics, just the four men and their instruments. Throughout their albums is the tinge of loss, falling in love, angst, falling out of love, bad, bitter break ups and gut-wrenching heartbreak. So tonight shouldn't feel as upbeat as it does, right?

Instead of a dramatic, massive opening, the band, lead by Jim Adkins walk onto the stage, introduce themselves and launch into 'I Will Steal You Back'. They've set the tone in that one song. What follows is a set full of emotive songs. 'Big Casino' gets the crowd moving as does sing along ballad, 'Always Be'.

Halfway through, the music comes to a halt with Jim Adkins shouting for the band to stop. Two guys are having a fight in the middle of the crowd and Adkins decides to call them out. Watch the video, it's actually brilliant. Adkins has a way of commanding a crowd without swearing, without calling everyone 'motherfuckers' every verse end, he comes across as truly caring about the fans and their well being. The two villains of the evening are promptly boo-ed by the crowd, Adkins gets a big cheer and the show goes on.

A huge sandwich of ballads slows things down quite a lot. This section of the show is strictly reserved for the more hardcore Jimmy Eat World fans. 'Hear You Me' manages to get phones in the air and a huge sing along. But it's 'Bleed American' that really brings things back up a notch. Disappear for the encore only to return with a perfectly predictable closer in the form of 'The Middle'. It's no surprise, but it get the loudest screams and singing of the night.

Credit for the video goes to LS Photography on YouTube.

About a Girl

Oh hello, I'm writing about another girly book I proper enjoyed.

'About a Girl' is Lindsey Kelk's recent effort at writing a new series after the successful (and much loved by me) 'I Heart' series. After the standalone 'The Single Girl's To-Do List' found me being quite disappointed, I wasn't sure what to expect with 'About a Girl', but I tend to try and read every book written by an author I like.

'About a Girl' is the story of Tess Brookes, an advertiser living in London. Tess is dedicated to her job, it's all she knows and the main thing she cares about. At the beginning of the book, she's preparing herself for a promotion at work, but is promptly given the boot by the company. A trip up North home see's Tess sleep with her best friend and long time crush, Charlie, before finding out he's not what she expected. She then escapes to Hawaii, under a false name and occupation and is set the task of taking photo's for a glossy fashion magazine. Between the mess she left behind at home, keeping up a new identity and all the troubles Hawaii throws at her, the novel is exciting and interesting.

On a personal level, I really liked 'About a Girl'. Tess has plenty of character development throughout the novel to please me. She goes from being a 'by-the-book' workaholic, to taking on an alter ego in the form of her double identity. It's interesting to see how her mind set shifts and she often refers to other more measured thoughts and actions as being like 'Old Tess'. The story itself is interesting, keeping readers guessing what will happen until the end. There's also a good old twist towards the end of the novel, which made me think 'what an absolute bitch!' It's brilliant.

Keeping in with her previous novels, Kelk has managed to capture the paradise of Hawaii perfectly, the descriptions alone will make you want to get down to Thomas Cook and book the next flight out there. The 'I Heart' series saw the characters travel to New York, LA, Las Vegas, Paris and London, but none of those felt as luxurious as this one.

The ending is open ended, awaiting a sequel that I'm really excited to be released. I think this is another series I will enjoy as a bit of light relief. Kelk writes your typical girly novels, but with relatable characters in unrelatable, dreamy settings. It's just what I needed to read after wading through crime novels and journalism text books.

Hail To The King

Or hail to Avenged Sevenfold.

Back in the summer, Avenged Sevenfold dropped the bomb that they would be releasing a new album at the end of August. The artwork was released along with the first single 'Hail to the King'. There were hints at Download with a fake news round up including Avenged Sevenfold songs and video clips being shown on the big screens between bands. That all seems like a long, long time ago, because the album is finally here.

I wasn't sure what to expect with 'Hail to the King'. Avenged Sevenfold are a band I've loved since I heard the self titled album a few years ago, I preferred the softer, less screamo sound. Then came 'Nightmare' which I found really difficult to get my head around. It was a tough listen and I didn't immediately love it. With 'Hail to the King' that is simply not the case.

Opening track 'Shepherd of Fire' is what you'd expect with an Avenged song. It's big, it's epic, there's more than just the guitars, bass and drums. It's a typical opening song from them and is reminiscent of 'City of Evil' and the heavier moments of 'Nightmare'. M Shadows' vocal is perfect throughout the whole album, his voice carrying anger and aggression with ease. The guitars are still complex, but I think it's less 'in-your-face' and slots in with the rest of the instruments better. The most notable change is the drums. Of course after the passing of The Rev in 2009, the band's immediate thoughts weren't to replace him. Where 'Nightmare' was kind of a memorial with Mike Portnoy playing the drums exactly the same way, 'Hail to the King' is the baby steps of Avenged Sevenfold moving on.

As far as the songs go, there's lot of themes about war and a few nods towards biblical themes. 'Doing Time' and 'This Means War' sound a bit Metallica-esque. They're two of the heavier tracks on the album. 'Acid Rain' is a perfectly dramatic closer on the album. The songs are very 'City of Evil', heavier, stronger, but they're not as catchy as the choruses of self titled tracks, 'Almost Easy' or 'Afterlife'.

Will this be the album that pushes Avenged Sevenfold into the stratosphere? Maybe. It hit number one last weekend in the album charts and with a UK headline arena tour this winter and rumours of a Download 2014 headline slot, the future is looking incredibly strong for Avenged Sevenfold.