Pseudonym doesn’t keep fans away from ‘Lou Quaid’ show

A lot of great talent came out of the old Berry Street music scene — Josh Weathers, Jorts Richardson, Quaker City Night Hawks and, of course, Luke Wade.

In case you have been living under a rock, Wade made a lot of headlines with his performances on The Voice, and has been touring the U.S. ever since, hitting more than 90 cities in the past year.

But Sunday, Luke Wade and his band wanted to have a party with their friends and die-hard local fans — and a chance to work out some new material in a small, intimate venue. So for one night only, they renamed themselves Lou Quaid and the Quaaludes and did a show at Magnolia Motor Lounge.

“We’re playing a bunch of new stuff,” Wade said, “and I just wanted to play like a fun, wheels-off kind of party show. We don’t really do that a whole lot anymore. I thought we would use a code name, and then the people who know me know that that’s me.”

When I got there, 30 minutes before he started, the place was standing-room-only. People were stacked out on the patio. The band — Lou Quaid/Luke Wade (guitar, vocals), Blaine Crews (drums), David Wade (sax, flute), Alcedrick Todd (trumpet), Paul Jenkins (bass) and David Kurrasch (guitar) — were just finishing up the sound check.

The first half of the set featured mostly new originals, and Wade had the crowd spellbound. However, during the second half, he brought out his old tunes, and the crowd was on the dance floor. Halfway through the set, Chris Watson even joined Luke — I mean Lou — for a song they wrote together.

At one point, Crews did a drum solo that pounded home to me that he is still probably the most technically proficient drummer playing in this city. But Crews will soon be hanging up the drumsticks.

Constant touring is forcing him to miss out on the first few years of his young daughter’s life. When he realized that the first word she says to him when he comes home is “bye,” he had to make some changes. So he is working on getting his real estate license, which will allow him to concentrate on a more important gig. Can’t say I blame him a bit.

Luke has come a long way from hawking free CD’s in the back yard at Fred’s, but those who have been following him from the start aren’t a bit surprised at his success — and we aren’t a bit surprised that off-stage he’s the same down-to-earth, humble artist he was back then.

The tunes are punchy, his act is a bit more polished, and his voice and his stage presence are and have always been unique and engaging. I’d go see this man perform under any name.

This story was originally published August 2, 2015 at 7:22 AM with the headline "Pseudonym doesn’t keep fans away from ‘Lou Quaid’ show."