Before he became the lead singer of Fun., Nate Ruess was one half of 2000s indie pop duo the Format with Sam Means. This past Saturday, the Format reunited in their Phoenix hometown, playing their first show in nearly 20 years at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. Not only did they play favorites and deep cuts from their two-album catalogue, but two new songs, and Jim Adkins of fellow Arizona band Jimmy Eat World joined them for a cover of Gin Blossoms’ “Hey Jealousy.”
According to setlist.fm, the Format performed songs from across their entire catalogue, opening with “Tie The Rope” and “Wait Wait Wait” from Interventions + Lullabies. The two new tracks they played are called “Shot In The Dark” and “Holy Roller.”
They also did acoustic versions of “Snails,” “On Your Porch,” and “A Save Situation.” The latter two were a part of their first encore, which also included the Gin Blossoms cover. “To make matters a hell of a lot worse, we’re gonna play a cover song from a band that Jim, me, no band in Arizona would be anywhere without,” Nate Ruess said before diving into the cover. The night finished with a second encore of “If Work Permits.”…