Progressive rock and jam stalwarts, RAQ, will continue their blissful reunion of the occasional run of shows with a return to NYC to take over the Gramercy Theatre on Friday, March 7th (Purchase Tix Here). With songs that are in their own right finely crafted compositions, RAQ is so deft at expanding songs into jam vehicles that explore the surrounding soundscape, taking the audience on a collective journey. Performing opening duties for the show will be Live for Live Music friends and cohorts FiKus, who recently threw down a proper set of electro-funk at L4LM’s Post-Umphrey’s McGee After-Party with Wyllys, Joel Cummins, and Chris Cartelli of Newton Crosby.

Since disbanding in 2008, RAQ has only performed a handful of shows together, most notably at The Bowery Ballroom in April of 2010, a couple of times over the last 2 years at Brooklyn Bowl, in Burlington, VT and at the AURA Music & Arts Festival in FL.  Keyboardist Todd Stoops has a solid foundation with Kung Fu, the funk-fusion quintet that he began with Tim Palmieri (The Breakfast), which has garnered a solid amount of national attention and seen them hit the festival circuit hard.

Guitarist and master-shredder Chris Michetti has found success while becoming a full-time member of Conspirator, a band that features Marc Brownstein and Aron Magner of The Disco Biscuits.  While both Michetti and Stoops have been touring heavily with their other projects, it appears that they are committed to keeping RAQ alive when their schedules allow, which is music to the ears of the RAQ faithful.

Jay Burwick (Bass) has kept a much lower profile during RAQ’s hiatus, playing the occasional gig at Nectar’s in Burlington. For their shows in 2013, RAQ recruited Adrian Tramontano (Kung Fu/The Breakfast) to take over duties from original drummer Greg Stukey.

RAQ was chosen as a ‘New Groove of the Month’ by Jambands.com, and nominated for a ‘Jammy’ Award in the category of ‘Best New Band’.  Relix Magazine featured the band in its Spotlight section, saying “RAQ has the ability to captivate an audience, dropping jaws with hyperkinetic improvisational splendor.” The band was also highlighted by Relix as one of the top bands to look out for in the summer of 2005.

SHOW INFO:

Artists –   RAQ w/ FiKus

Venue –   The Gramercy Theatre (NYC)

Date   –   Friday, March 7th at 8pm

Tickets –  $20 Advance/$22 D.O.S.  (Purchase tix here)

 

RAQ “Beauregard” at AURA:

FiKus “Birthday Cake (Part 1)>Latin” from BB King’s: