The Juliana Theory’s Josh Detar (fourth from left); shown before passing out at The Lime Spider Tuesday night.

Credit: Erika Kreider

You know it’s a good show when the lead singer passes out and the band keeps playing.

That’s just what happened Tuesday night at Akron’s The Lime Spider to The Juliana Theory’s lead singer, Brett Detar. During the band’s last song “French Kiss Off,” Detar was holding a 40-second scream, when he suddenly passed out over and onto the stage.

He was now lying on the ground, still screaming, when the monitor fell and smacked his head. He continued to scream, but probably for a different reason at this point.

All of the fans in the front gathered around him, while Detar just laid there and the rest of the band finished the song.

After he got up, Detar left a small bloodstain, and was walking around holding his head with a towel. I overheard the band’s merchandise man say they were taking Detar to the hospital because his head would not stop bleeding.

Other than the closing accident, The Juliana Theory played a remarkable show. They played a mix from their older and newer CDs, the most recent being

2003’s Love.

Josh Walters, the Juliana Theory’s drummer, said the band sounds like alternative rock and rock with an edge. He added that he feels all of their songs sound differently from one another.

One thing all the songs have in common, however, is Detar’s vocal similarities to that of Billy Corgan, the lead singer of Smashing Pumpkins. Walters said the Pumpkins are a huge influence on his band, along with Queens of the Stone Age.

Although they sound like these bands, one factor that sets TJT apart is Detar’s ability to scream. His screams come from deep inside his skinny body and sound like someone told him they are going to kill his cat.

The way The Juliana Theory interacts with the audience built a strong relationship between the two. Detar would step inches from the edge of the stage to sing, while the beet-red lights shined on his face.

The show started off with local band Everett. I’ll let their first two songs slide as warm-up, because they didn’t seem up to par with what turned out to be a good set.

Their third song, “Tolls,” had me in a musical trance. Even though I wasn’t right by the stage, my heart was still pounding along with the music, and my jeans felt as if they were swaying with the sound coming from the speakers.

The other opening band was Terminal, a band from Texas. They are one of those bands that thrash around on stage, constantly bending in half over their instruments like someone is continuously punching them in the stomach.

The lead singer had on the tightest pants anyone could squeeze into and, as he told me, “costed a lot.” They fit into that general scene where boys wear tighter pants than girls, complete with shaggy hair.

Despite their stereotypical indie look, Terminal did bring a lot of energy to their set, one thing they unquestionably did well.

But sometimes the band went through phases in their songs where it sounded like they weren’t listening to what the others were playing. Also, they were getting horrible feedback, which they did nothing about.

When Terminal announced they had two more songs left, a gutsy audience member yelled out, “make it one!” The bassist looked at the lead singer and said, “only play one more.”

You can be the judge whether the audience was into them or not.

This was The Juliana Theory’s last stop in Ohio on this tour. The band also played Canton and Kent in previous weeks.

Here’s hoping no more freak monitor accidents will happen to spoil the rest of the tour.

Contact Pop Arts reporter Erika Kreider at [email protected].