Jimmy Eat World

Being dumped by their record label in 1999 may have been the best thing that ever happened to these guys. Since then they have broken through to the mainstream with #1 rock tracks like "The Middle" and "Pain."

Once on their own, they did a self-promoted tour of Europe using the van bought for them by the record company. They had never had records released anywhere but the United States.

In 2000, they played Germany's two biggest festivals, Bizarre and PopKomm, and in 2000 their 1999 album charted there. That helped raise money for future recordings.