The Album

The wrock band Witherwings did a live performance at a library in Orlando, FL in 2008 and released the live songs from that performance thirteen years later in April 2021! That’s what we’ll be reviewing today: Live at the Library. Grab your library card and settle in, here we go!

The Tracks

The Live at the Library Intro gives us a brief look into what the energy was like at the event (spoilers: it was exciting)! Witherwings lets the audience know that there will be prerecorded tracks that she will be singing along to.

Love Potion (LIVE) starts out with a percussion track and quickly adds string instrumentals. You can hear the audience clapping along in the background as the singer brings the energy and passion into the lyrics of this song. The rhythmic quality makes it easy to dance along to, and even though the vocals get quiet at the end, they are still strong and fun.

The next song is called Be S.M.A.R.T. (LIVE) which is about a fake organization about magical creatures: the Society of Magical Animal Respective Treatment. It is super catchy with a poppin’ bass line and percussion.

The first wizard rock song that Witherwings ever wrote is performed next: Oliver Wood (LIVE). The song is about how Oliver Wood’s greatest wish is to finally win the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup in his last year at school. It’s a slower song, and the vocal performance is rich and lovely.

Potterverse (LIVE) is about the wonderful wizarding world. Getting lost in Harry Potter’s world is perfectly encapsulated with the lyrics, the beautiful harmonies, and the meditative quality of the instrumentals. The words pulled at my heartstrings and I could relate deeply to the theme of the song.

The last song of the album is called Summer Song (LIVE). With an upbeat backing track, the vocalist sings about the feel of summer in the air outside of the cold stones of Hogwarts castle.

In Summary

I was very impressed with how good the quality was from a 2008 recording. The vocals of the lead singer are absolutely wonderful and I enjoyed every single track. I’m so glad that Witherwings decided to release this old recording in 2021 so now we can still listen and enjoy. I award this live album the Quidditch Cup!