Jump, Little Children gives 'Vertigo' to full house at Ziggy's
By Elizabeth Turnbull
News Editor
A
head-banging bassist, a cello, and a miniature pink guitar combined
to form an exciting, energy-charged Jump, Little Children concert Oct.
6 at Ziggy’s.
Howie Day opened with his one-man show, mixing sounds on stage to form
an invisible band. While his music was clear and his talent impressive,
each song soon began to sound like the next, and monotony plagued the
final fifteen minutes.
When Jump took the stage, however, eclecticism reigned the rest of the
evening with Matt Bivins, a vocalist and multi-faceted instrumentalist,
playing guitar, recorder, harmonica and accordion.
The group opened with several songs from their new album, Vertigo. And
while the album was only released Sept. 25, many of the fans already
knew the lyrics and sang along.
The concert reached a somber note as Bivins dedicated the concert to
his recently deceased father and introduced “Words of Wisdom,”
one of the tracks from Vertigo.
Matt and drummer Evan Bivins are brothers, and lost their father to
cancer over the summer. In response, Evan wrote “Words of Wisdom,”
a touching song about a father’s legacy, and several of the members’
favorite on the new album. Sung by lead vocalist Jay Clifford, the song
includes lyrics like, “Every precious memory and broken-hearted
tragedy will walk into eternity, but not fade away.”
“Words of Wisdom is dedicated to anyone who has recently lost a
loved one,” Matt said.
Following “Words of Wisdom,” Matt captivated the audience
with “Singer,” chanting, “They tell me my father is sick
once again with the plague that can decimate many old men and I settle
once more to the long sad dread that reminds me that all loved ones
soon will be dead.”
In a tender moment, he wiped a tear away after singing “This is
why I spent so much time making love to you; in your arms I was searching
for things that were true.”
But energy once again went through the roof as, showing its broad range
of talent, Jump broke into “Habit,” always a crowd-pleaser.
The floor then turned into a mosh pit with “Magazine,” which
inadvertently featured what Clifford referred to as “the first
crowd-surfer of the tour,” and what he also hoped would be the
last. (His hopes were, however, dashed, when, during the encore, yet
another crowd surfer joined the ranks.)
On a lighter note, “Cathedrals,” one of the group’s greatest
commercial hits, rang out as clearly and smoothly as the bells of the
cathedrals in New York and Rome about which they sang.
The highlight of the concert came when the group went unplugged during
the encore, “Down Where She Lies.” Clifford’s voice and
Williams’ cello sounded true and fresh with no mic to disguise
or distort.
The concert was a huge success and proved that, despite recent struggles
when Atlantic Records dropped their recording label, Jump is stronger
and richer in sound than ever. Starting over with its own label, EZ
Records, the group finally released its new album after a long delay.
“I think on Magazine (our last album) probably at times it was
obvious how we were stretching,” Clifford said. “Vertigo is
very strong, emotional, appealing. I love listening to it.”
Jump has, nonetheless, faced its frustrations in publicizing the new
album, finding it more difficult to get radio time and make the album
available at a wide range of venues.
“It’s been tough,” Evan said.
Touring has also taken its toll on the members who have dedicated every
day of the past few months to pushing Vertigo.
“Most days we’ll do a college radio in the morning, then an
in-store (show and signing) and a show in the evenings,” Jonathan
Gray, the bassist, said.
However, Clifford was quick to note that touring also has its good times.
“We’ve tried to stay up late drinking a lot,” he said.
“It’s made the tour a lot more fun.”
