Long before Jimmy Eat World took the Vans Stage at Warped Tour on Saturday evening, thousands of fans had already started the show.
As the crowd grew, fans began singing the unmistakable “whoa-oh” refrain from “Sweetness,” filling the Vans area before a single member of Jimmy Eat World had stepped onstage. There were no instruments, no countdown and no prompting from the band. Just thousands of voices carrying one of the group’s most recognizable hooks. Twenty-five years after their album Bleed American, it was an early reminder that Jimmy Eat World’s return to Warped Tour meant far more than celebrating an anniversary.
When the Arizona rockers finally emerged with the title track from their breakthrough album, the singalong only grew louder. Fans in faded Bleed American shirts stood shoulder to shoulder with parents lifting toddlers onto their backs, introducing a new generation to the songs they had grown up with.
Taking a brief pause between songs, frontman Jim Adkins acknowledged the milestone.
Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World performs during day one of the Vans Warped Tour music festival in Long Beach on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
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Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World performs during day one of the Vans Warped Tour music festival in Long Beach on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
“We’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of Bleed American,” he told the crowd. “It’s crazy to think it’s been this long. So many memories and so many things are attached to this album, and we’re happy to be here.”
The audience had already been telling that story long before the band took the stage.
Throughout the afternoon, conversations with fans revealed just how deeply the album had embedded itself into people’s lives. Some recalled learning to skateboard with “The Middle” blasting through headphones. Others remembered first kisses, long drives with friends, or simply growing up alongside songs that never seemed to fall out of rotation.
Roughly an hour before Jimmy Eat World took the stage, Adkins and his bandmates huddled on a backstage couch, reflecting on their return to Warped Tour and witnessing that connection firsthand.
“While on the road, it’s been cool to see a lot of younger fans,” he said. “There’s people that grew up listening to the album, and there’s people who are there with their kids, and then there’s people who are just brand new fans. It’s just wild.”
That reach has stretched far beyond Warped Tour. For many millennials, “Hear You Me” became inseparable from its emotional scene in the 2004 film “A Cinderella Story,” cementing the song as the soundtrack to one of the generation’s most memorable movie moments. More than two decades later, it found another audience after a viral video of Norway men’s national soccer team coach Ståle Solbakken running into the stands to kiss his wife after a victory prompted fans to pair the clip with “Hear You Me,” with many noting echoes of the “A Cinderella Story” scene.
Asked about moments like those — where the band’s music continues resurfacing in unexpected ways decades later — Adkins admitted he hadn’t seen the viral clip but wasn’t surprised that the songs continue finding new audiences.
“I think the fun of it all is seeing how it connects to different people,” Adkins said.
The set continued through much of “Bleed American,” of course, including “Hear You Me,” before shifting into later favorites such as “Big Casino” and closing with “Pain.” While the anniversary naturally centered on one album, the performance also served as a reminder that Jimmy Eat World’s catalog has continued to resonate well beyond its early-2000s breakthrough.
How the Vans Warped Tour’s legacy stretches beyond any single genre
Revisiting “Bleed American,” Adkins said, has also given the band a different perspective on its legacy.
“We’re getting more of an insight into what the records meant to fans,” he said. “We know pretty well what it’s been like for us, but it hasn’t always specifically been about ‘Bleed American’ because we’ve put out 10 other records. It’s just a little bit different, stepping back and really focusing on this one record.”
Looking across the sea of fans, from longtime listeners wearing vintage tour shirts to young children experiencing the songs for the first time, it was easy to understand what he meant.
“I think that’s how music works,” drummer Zach Lind said. “When you listen to music that’s specific to a time in your life, it’s basically like a portal to those memories. I think that’s what’s so special about music in general.”
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