The Juliana Theory – Live: 10-13-2001

Live albums are a tricky thing to release. If you have never had the opportunity to see the band live, then their live album is the album which you will use to try and imagine what goes on at a show. If the recording quality is bad or the vocals a little off or maybe just if the crowd is completely not interested in the performance; that will affect you opinion on the band. Will you see them live when they do come by your town? Well, the live album was a disappointment, the actual show may just be as big as one, so why waste your money? The Juliana Theory has nothing to worry about here. Their live album will only convince more and more people to come check them out if they have the opportunity.

Recorded on October 13th, 2001 at Club Laga in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; the album was kept in storage for nearly two years before Tooth & Nail finally released it upon the world. The 10 song set features song from their 2000 and 1999 T&N releases, Emotion Is Dead and Understand This Is A Dream. From the opening track (To The Tine Of 5,000 Screaming Children) to the final track(If I Told You This Was Killing Me Would You Stop?), the band never wavers from their topnotch performance. Constantly feeding off the crowd’s energy, the band does nothing to let them down, they play energetically and turn the evening into a memorable event. They even let the crowd sing the opening verse is Duane Joseph (and some other parts too)! Luckily for us, the listeners, The Juliana Theory doesn’t fill the album up with chitchat, they get straight down to business and play the songs which the fans had come to hear.

In the introduction by Brett Detar, he mentions that they spent hours setting up the equipment for the performance and the recording process. Those hours were not wasted in any way at all. The recording is simply amazing quality. The vocals come through the speakers perfectly backed up by the infectious musical melodies. The venue and the recorders should be extremely proud of what they did here. Nothing went wrong at all.

Live: 10-13-2001 is a must have for anyone who was lucky enough to be at the performance (who wouldn’t want to own a recording of such a memorable show like this?). It’s also an album which will please any fan of the band and will most likely please anyone who doesn’t know who the band is too!