The sounds of rock echoed between the Buffalo Harbor and the Buffalo Skyway on Friday, as Jimmy Eat World and Manchester Orchestra teamed up to bring the Amplified Echoes Tour to the Outer Harbor. The two bands are wrapping up a summer co-headlining tour which saw them swap headlining duties each night. Indie rockers the Middle Kids opened the concert.
Grey skies and soggy grounds couldn’t dampen the concert spirit, as the early arriving crowd quickly filled the concert field. The evening’s festivities kicked off with a set by the Middle Kids. Making their way from Sydney, Australia, the indie rock group wasted no time getting the crowd engaged. Opening with “Never Start” off their 2018 release Lost Friends, the upbeat track quickly had fans on their feet and moving. It quickly became apparent to those in attendance the band were rising stars on the music scene. This was never more evident than when the band would play their two newest tracks.
Early in their 30 minute set, the band performed their latest single, “Highlands,” a catchy and upbeat track that had heads bopping and is sure to have fans singing along in the near future. As the set neared a close, the band performed their other release from 2023, “Bootleg Firecracker.” The slower paced track was perhaps the highlight of this set, as singer Hannah Joy’s vocals danced and swirled in front of a layer of hypnotic sounds.
With their familiar logo draped behind and a setting sun to stage left, Manchester Orchestra took the stage next. The band wasted no time getting started, opening with the fan favorite “Pride.” The slow building rocker saw singer Andy Hull’s familiar vocals build from a near whisper, to a growl as the song’s intensity built. Fans jumped and threw fists in the air as the song exploded with a high energy finish. The band kept the momentum going with the fast paced rockers “Keel Timing” and “Bed Head” next, both tracks of their 2021 release The Million Masks of God.
The band would dig deeper into their catalog as their 75 minute set moved along. 2006’s “I Can Barely Breathe” was a prime example of the band’s ability to build intensity through out a song, while tracks like “Simple Math” and “The Gold” showcased the familiar harmonies that have become associated with the band. The band pulled off these harmonies in the concert setting with precision.
During the set singer Andy Hull would pause to honor a young fan in attendance who was attending her first concert. “She asked me to play ‘I Can Feel A Hot One’ so I’m going to play a little bit of that… Dad we should probably talk about why is this her favorite song,” Hull said, which was met with much laugher from the crowd. With their slot nearing a close, the band would end with “The Silence.” The track would start at a slow pace but build towards another climactic finish which saw fans passionately singing the song’s closing lyrics. As the song came to a close, Hull took the mic to the front of the stage, repeating the songs lyrics several times in front of layers of feed back as his band members laid their instruments down and left the stage.
Taking the headlining duties on this evening were indie-rockers Jimmy Eat World. The band took the stage in near darkness, and began the slow burning and intense “Congratulations” off their latest album, Surviving (2019). As the song’s intensity built, lights would flash to briefly illuminate the various members of the band, with front man Jim Adkins moving about the stage. By the end of the seven minute track, the song had built into a high intensity rocker. This served way for the bands’ second song, the high speed and ever popular “Bleed American.” Fans bopped and sang along to the anthemic track. The band kept the energy going as they segued into their 2001 smash hit “Sweetness” which had the audience calling back lyrics. The remainder of the bands 75 minute set served something like a running sprint, with the band firing off upbeat rocker after upbeat rocker, fitting in a total of 17 tracks during their set.
With their set nearing its close, the band would mellow the tempo a bit to perform the fan favorite “Hear You Me,” an emotional track about the loss of a loved one. They would waste no time ramping up the energy again, closing out the set with perhaps their biggest hit track, “The Middle.” It was a fitting way to close their set, allowing fans one last opportunity to sing and jump along to one of the band’s many hit tracks.
Jimmy Eat World
Manchester Orchestra
The Middle Kids
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