25 Bands Who Totally Rocked Jimmy Kimmel Live
People take their late night TV feuds seriously, but while Leno, Conan and Letterman were all busy duking it out, Jimmy was having the best bands tear up his stage.
Sure, singers didn’t always remember their lines, and Jimmy didn’t always pronounce the band’s names correctly, but the performances were always electric. So we pay tribute to Mr. Kimmel for inviting on a lot of our old favorites, some of our new favorites, and for giving them the biggest stage to rock out on.
1. Taking Back Sunday – “Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team)”
2. Senses Fail – “Buried A Lie”
Is Buddy Nielsen good or is he good? But it’s hard to imagine the Buddy of today—a lethal martial arts enthusiast—wearing pink and with that hair cut. If he’s reading this right now, he’s probably thinking, “Thank god they didn’t use the Conan performance where I forgot an entire verse.” Yeah, that happened, but it was still a good performance—an amazing save that proves Senses Fail can do no wrong—and it’s worth checking out.
3. Finch – “What It Is To Burn”
4. My Chemical Romance – “Helena”
Grover from Sesame Street makes a cameo (seriously). And checkout Gerard’s bulletproof heart!
5. Asking Alexandria – “Closure”
Danny Worsnop might be the first musician to preach against illegal downloading mid-performance on late night television. “Illegal online downloads are killing this. You can help it. Go out and buy a CD. You can keep this alive; no one wants it to die,” says Danny.
6. From First To Last – “Two As One”
They don’t look like the black-clad, emo action figures you probably remember. This hook-laden FFTL was fun: They were bouncy, fond of unicorns, and they had a Pearl Jam roadie in their band.
7. Panic! At The Disco – “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”
It’s especially great to have our current cover artists, Panic! At The Disco, on this list—even if all 25 bands on the list have been featured on our cover before (some, more than once). But we’re not trying brag or anything.
8. The Used – “Take It Away”
Bert, when exactly did Jesus say “Keep on pimping”? Also, the Tron guy makes a cameo! What’s with these cameos?
9. A Day To Remember – “All I Want”
10. The Starting Line – “The Best Of Me”
Oh, yeah? Tell me what you thought about when you drowned in confetti. And, let’s all remember that the Drive-Thru Records tour was a thing, and life was just so damn good.
11. Brand New – “The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows”
Watch for the attractive girl in the crowd, with a sign that says “Brand New owns your mom.” Also, doesn’t Jesse Lacey look great in a suit?
12. Thrice – “The Artist In The Ambulance”
13. Saves The Day – “Anywhere With You”
Cool fact: Saves The Day also performed “At Your Funeral” on The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn.
14. Story Of The Year – “Until The Day I Die”
15. The Almost – “Say This Sooner”
So, what do you think? Did he forget the word “normal” or did he skip it on purpose? Either way, it was pretty weird.
16. Hawthorne Heights – “Ohio Is For Lovers”
It’s very bittersweet watching guitarist Casey Calvert perform. His screams-heard-round-the-world sounded just as good live as they did recorded.
17. Something Corporate – “Space”
Andrew McMahon is a god, and he knows it, too—just watch. And try to figure out what it says on his piano.
18. New Found Glory – “All Down Hill From Here”
