Quarx, a local Baton Rouge jam band, delivered crisp and clean rockin’ tunes to the Varisty Theatre on Friday, July 21st.
While openers Krewe Del Sol neared the end of their set, I caught up with lead singer and guitarist, Alaric Fricke. Speaking of the general excitement of the night, Fricke mentioned it being Quarx’s first time headlining (which means more time for improvising) and that new releases were up ahead.
Those weren’t the only new comings for Quarx. Last night marked the first show with newest edition Jason Guidroz as hand percussionist. Unfortunately it dually behaved as a farewell to current drummer, Tom Periou, making it his last show behind drum kit. Regular members, Johnny Zeringue on bass and Logan Freeman on keys, were also on stage.
To kick things off, Alaric gave a warm welcome and prelude to new song “Long Days and Nights”. Noting some potential inspiration, the Grateful Dead classic “Help On The Way” popped in mind, which would not be all that surprising considering the band’s open admiration for the group. Alaric soon returned on mic introducing the next song as “what happens when you turn a bluegrass chord to a psychedelic rock song” – a fair quote to resemble the far-reaching talents encompassed in the band.
With breezy transitions, Quarx kept the jams rolling before bringing out local horns player, Ryan Mooneyham, for a couple songs. This included a crowd-pleasing Parliament cover of “Handcuffs” followed by a hunky version of Buddy Guy’s “Midnight Train”.
The band’s inspirations were laid out right in front of us with another cover surfacing of Led Zeppelin’s “Communication Breakdown”. Now, Alaric’s vocals need some appreciation because they covered some serious ground, and did so fabulously at that. During “Other Side”, Guidrox really started breaking loose with a playful bongo feature. Just as impressive as their rendition of other powerful musicians’ tunes is the lyrical content within Quarx originals.
A noteworthy sequence followed of: School > Flick On > Communication Breakdown > School. This section nicely highlights the band’s fluent yet technical means of transition and inter-band communication along with their wide encompassing approach combining the blues, funk, psychedelic rock, and jazz.
Quarx is an up-and-coming band that deserves light for several reasons. First, they are a clean start-up jam band, something that should surely be treasured when found. Second, I am loving their jam band-ness on and off stage. Live, they improvise while keeping their instruments tight and vocals tighter. Offstage, the band maintains a presence on two noteworthy platforms.
During Quarx’s show, live tweets of songs as they occur are posted on Twitter (@Quarxband). And if you’re a jam band fan, or just general live music fan, you know, THAT IS AMAZING. On Soundcloud.com (@Quarx), you can find their previous performance at the Varsity from May. And according to Alaric, this is something we can expect to see more of within the next few days as they transfer last night’s audio onto an accessible platform for fans.
If you’re around the Baton Rouge area, this is a band to keep tabs on.
– Elemental
Find the full night’s set list below:
Long Days and Nights
Wheels Turning
Uncle
Rabbit Run >
Diamond Heist
Handcuffs
Midnight Train
Other Side >
Look Around
School
Flick On>
Communication Breakdown >
School
https://soundcloud.com/user-967835934
https://twitter.com/quarxband
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