Jimmy Eat World to Ignite Dodd Auditorium Feb. 9

By AUSTIN BARTENSTEIN

Giant Productions recently announced on their website that Jimmy Eat World has been selected as the spring show at Mary Washington.

The band will play Dodd Auditorium on Feb. 9.

Giant Co-Chair Justin Thompson explained the process behind booking the band, a decision that took place about a month and a half ago.

“We use a middle agent to help negotiate bands and comedians who come on campus,” he said. “We saw that Jimmy Eat World was routing through the area and felt like they would be a good choice for the campus and a suitable band for our big spring act.”

Jimmy Eat World is playing at the National in Richmond, Va. the night before.

When asked if many people in Giant were fans, Thompson said that “a lot of people in Giant are fans––they are a pretty popular band. I also know that a lot of people are excited to see them.”

Previous spring acts snagged by Giant have included Gym Class Heroes last spring, Ben Folds in 2009 and Lupe Fiasco in 2008. Thompson said that Ben Folds and Lupe Fiasco were very well attended.

Gym Class Heroes was chosen out of five other acts last year via a student voting process, something that Giant did not have this year.

Thompson explained that Giant decided against having a voting process this year, because if the first choice folded, some students might not like the second choice that was chosen.

Giant Productions is the student organization on campus dedicated to bringing bands, comedians and other entertainment to campus.

This year, Thompson said that Giant tried to gauge which act would be best for the campus as a whole and expects a very big crowd for this year’s show.

Jimmy Eat World started out in 1994, becoming famous with the release of their 2001 album, “Bleed American.”

This album included their biggest hits, “Sweetness,” “A Praise Chorus” and their most successful single, “The Middle,” which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Since then, the band has produced three albums and released their most recent, “Invented,” on Sept. 28 of this year.

The cost of tickets is $10 for students and $20 for non-students. Tickets are on sale now in the OSACS office between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Jimmy Eat World will play Dodd Auditorium at 8 p.m. on Feb. 9. Doors at 6 p.m.