There are rare times where fate aligns itself.  I had a personal invite from the band to catch their performance, but our child care options had fallen through. I was granted permission from The Wife for a Freak and Geek solo flight. Woo hoo! It was my first visit to the Red Parrot, the former Woo's Bodega …er, ah, I mean Pagota. What a great bar for music! Good sized, big stage, pretty good sound. They need more lights, the right side of the stage was dark, hiding the bass player and rhythm guitarist in shadow. Perhaps if they continue to host music, they can put a little investment into some additional lights.

Ron Lee with the band Quadrant 4 at the Red Parrot

Quadrant 4 is made up of older rockers. They are a few years ahead of me, but on the same path of being follically challenged. The one thing about older rockers, they have real jobs to pay for their hobbies. So, they have good gear. I think I counted no less than eight guitars on stage with them. Sound was great, both from their equipment and the fact that they had a dedicated sound technician.

Ron Lee on lead guitar was nothing short of amazing. His guitar riffs are the most complex I have seen in person. His finger speed and ability to strike notes clearly was spectacular. He was hitting so many notes it was hard to differentiate him from the rhythm guitar. Drums were well pounded by Bruce Behnke, who seemed to have infinite energy for the night. On bass, Tony Campbell did a great job as he does for so many other bands. The last time I saw him he was playing bass for the Old Fashioneds, a group I hope to see again some day. There was a bass solo that was maybe a bit over the top. It was sort of a "see, this low frequency rumble is slightly different than that one…" kind of a solo. I guess at least it didn't go on too long. I am somewhat of a drum and bass solo bigot though.

I really hate making a movie reference for a movie that is more than ten years old, It shows my age. And, this one is more like twenty five years. In the movie Amadeus, young Mozart produces an opera that sadly goes over the head of emperor Joseph. He says to Mozart "Your work is ingenious. It's quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that's all." And he ends up looking a bit like a doltish simpleton for saying it. And yet, I am now in the same shoes when experiencing a night of Quadrant 4's performance. I was there for a set and a half, and it was fascinating. It was complex. But in the end, it was nearly overwhelming.

Taking full advantage of a night out on my own, I hit my new personal favorite Eau Claire hot spot for live music, The Mousetrap. I arrived just as the Evergreen Grass band was coming off the stage. A shame, I would like to have heard them. Coming on stage was the Minneapolis based band, Regulars. They were lots of fun, sort of on the rock end of the indie spectrum. The video I captured doesn't do them justice. It was not their best song, generally their music was much wilder. I really wish I would have gotten the previous song on tape.

	Quadrant 4 plays the Edgar Winter song Frankenstien
	I missed the beginning of this Satriani, One Robots Dream, due to camera operator malfunction.  But wanted to include it here for an example of the amazing guitar riffs
	Billy Holiday by we of a Joesph Satriani re-write, All Alone. The band claimed it was the only blues song Quadrant 4 knows
	The Regulars at the Mousetrap

While there, I ran into Brian Bethke who said they raised almost $400 for the American Cancer Society at his CD release party. The new disk, titled The River will be released to the general public in June. While you are here on this site, give a listen to his Freak and Geek exclusive release of We want the Carp back.

Quadrant 4 is available on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/quadrant4rocks
And, the Regulars are at: http://www.myspace.com/bluesandfunk

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