Starting the night off by watching the Giants handle the St. Louis Cardinals and then heading over to a gig of Jimmy Eat World and The Donnas ended up being just as good as it sounded when I initially planned it. The Warfield in San Francisco was packed, as hometown girls The Donnas played their first local gig in months, preparing for their upcoming tour and upcoming debut release for Atlantic, Spend The Night.
The ladies were in fine form, however, rocking jams off their new record like “Take It Off,” “Who Invited You” and “It’s On The Rocks,” as well as finer numbers from times past, such as “Are You Gonna Move It For Me” and set-closer “Skintight.” The large stage didn’t seem to deter the band at all, as not only did guitarist Donna R sound like she was playing two guitars at once, she bopped all over her realm, as well, making the stage hers. Donna C was resplendent as well, hair everywhere as she pounded the skins in time. After the set, the house music was Def Leppard’s Pyromania which was perfect, given the sound of Spend The Night.
The boys from Mesa, AZ, were up next and the crowd for them sure has changed in the months since I saw them last. No matter, though, as that’s what happens when you put out an album as strong as last year’s self-titled gem. The setlist consisted of about 60% songs from their 2001 album, including “Authority Song,” “Bleed American,” and “If You Don’t, Don’t,” and the rest culled from Clarity and earlier works, including the effervescent “Lucky Denver Mint” and “Blister.” Of course, the tracks that really brought down the house were the hits, show opener “A Praise Chorus,” “The Middle,” and final encore jam “Sweetness,” but, yet again, that’s to be expected. When you write hits like Jimmy Eat World has done, those songs tend to go over best with the kids. A win by the Giants, and tight shows from The Donnas and Jimmy Eat World: it definitely could have been a worse night…
