The Juliana Theory made its Notre Dame debut Saturday night at Legends, meeting with generally good reviews from students. The band played some old favorites like "Into the Dark" and "To the Tune of 5,000 Screaming Children," as well as some new songs the band had never before performed in front of a live audience.
The band blew an amp early in the show, causing some delay (and some bad joke-telling), but still met with generally good student reviews.
"Despite experiencing some equipment problems, Juliana Theory was still able to rock out and put on a good show," said senior Martin Snow.
During the course of the night, Legends saw between 800 and 900 students come for the concert, an exceptional crowd for the first show of the year.
The Juliana Theory is comprised of Brett Detar on vocals and guitar, Chad Alan on bass and backing vocals, Joshua Fiedler on guitar, Joshua Kosker on guitar and backing vocals and Josh Walters on drums.
All of the band members grew up in southwestern Pennsylvania, and Detar, Alan and Walters have been friends since childhood. They met up with Kosker and Fiedler while still in high school. The five formed The Juliana Theory as a side group while playing in other bands, but they eventually each committed to The Juliana Theory as a full-time project in 1997.
While the name of the band is unusual, there is actually no special meaning behind it. The band signed with the independent label Tooth & Nail for its first two records, after spending some time touring the country. Tooth & Nail released The Juliana Theory's first album, "Understand This is a Dream," in 1999, and "Emotion is Dead" in 2000. The band released their third album, "Music from Another Room" in 2001, and signed with Epic Records in 2002 for their next album, "Love."
The album "Love" is more mainstream than the previous albums, which is possibly a reflection of signing with Epic, but it still stays true to the band's independent and unique roots.
Fans can visit www.julianatheory.net to learn more about the band, its influences and to gain access to information about tour dates. They can also get things like photos, buddy icons and merchandise that relate to the band.
Each album is different than the previous, showing how the band has evolved musically and has been inspired by bands like U2, the Smashing Pumpkins and Led Zeppelin. The Juliana Theory's new album is called"Deadbeat Sweetheart" and is set to be released September 13 from Abacus Records. For Juliana Theory fans at Notre Dame, hearing the first live performance of some of the band's new music made for a great night.
"It was really exciting to hear their new songs and some of the best of their old," senior Kathryn DiPietro said.
The next major show at Legends is GASM on Sept. 1. The band is composed of seniors and grad students and does covers of songs from the 80s and 90s.
