Concert Review: Quadron at Liv Nightclub (DC)

Quadron @ Liv Nightclub

23 June, 2010

Quadron! Where do I begin? There are very few musicians that have surprised me in such a pleasant way. This past Wednesday I had the opportunity to head out to U Street's Liv Night Club to see Quadron in concert. This was a pretty random event given that I hadn't heard of Quadron until the day before. Because of work, I didn't have much time to check out their music in the twenty-four hours before the concert. Pretty much all I knew was that they are a pop duo from Denmark. I also hadn't heard of Liv beforehand so I was going into this whole excursion completely blind. I persuaded a friend to come along and when we arrived at the venue both of us where pretty shocked by the scene. I for one was expecting to see a bunch of high school students with dyed hair. I don't know what made me anticipate this particular scene but this is a clear example as to why you shouldn't, and actually can't, judge a band by its genre. When we arrived, Quadron had already started their set and the audience actually consisted of jazzed-up adults. The atmosphere of the venue was very relaxed: the dance floor was not overly packed and Coco, Quadron's sole lady and lead vocalist, was talking directly to people in the audience.

If you were to ask me now, I would describe Quadron as a funky R&B-jazz duo. Coco's voice reminded me of a mix between Alice Russell and Janelle Monae. One website describes them as the "musical baby" from the union of electro-duo Dirty Projectors and Neo-soul star Jill Scott. This description is exactly on point! Coco sings with such a soulful voice, full of emotion. On stage, the duo is joined by a bassist and a multi-instrumentalist on flute and saxophone. In every song each instrument is explicitly defined but the the harmony of each individual's talent creates a beautifully unique sound. The flute, sax, keyboard and bass along with Coco's dynamic voice creates amazing song after amazing song.

My favorite tracks from the night were "Slippin" and "Jeans", two of the more upbeat tracks from their self-titled debut. If you have not already checked out Quadron I highly recommend you do so soon! With so much talent they are bound, and totally deserve, to blow up big!

-- Dominique Barron