lobster quadrille @ bug jar, 2/18/2008

Last night I finally had the chance to check out awesome up-and-coming Rochester band, the Lobster Quadrille. Kids in the know have been saying for months and months that these guys are the best band in Rochester right now, and I wholeheartedly agree.

Named for that delightful undersea dance dreamt up by Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland, Lobster Quadrille are every bit as quirky, colorful, and dark as Carroll's tales. They cite influences as disparate as Oscar Wilde and Bauhaus, and get all dolled up in 19th-century inspired garb for their performances. The band members play a motley assortment of instruments - from accordion, washboard, clarinet, and viola, to guitar and the other standard rock band essentials. The result is a fusion of the bright and lively French Quarter in New Orleans with an eclectic, darker mix of gospel, blues, and rock. In addition to their skillful, if random, musical stylings, the Quadrille thoroughly entertains audiences with frontman Solomon's parodic sermons. Fans are glad to shout "Hallelujah!" to roaring tirades about the Church and churchgoers. You can check out their music on MySpace and YouTube, but this is truly a band to be experienced.

As an added treat to last night's show, Lobster Quadrille brought some guests to provide an interlude between songs. We saw tapdancers, some guy who talked about dried-up worms, and a damned funny magic show ending in "magic white powder" being snorted off of a Bible. Best eight bucks I ever spent at the Bug Jar.