"We do so much improvisation that every show is totally different," guitarist Luke Miller said. "We're not going to play the same songs, and even if we did, they would sound radically different."

Locally, Lotus has moved up from playing smaller, 21-and-over shows at The Brewery, 223 E. Beaver Ave., to Crowbar. Miller said the group likes to create a recognized name by returning to certain markets, and college towns are good especially good places for that.

Attendees of previous Lotus shows can expect some new elements to the group's sound. In addition to writing new compositions and experimenting with some new musical concepts, Miller said he and his band mates are always expanding their equipment, and the group's music now includes more electronic sounds and samples.

"We still have the same songs, and we've since written new songs," he said. "If you've heard Lotus, you'll recognize us, but I like to think we're always progressing ... People that did see us before can expect more use of samples, and I think we've been working a lot on making some sections more mellow, while some sections have more overdriven guitar, just more variety like that."

But those new styles do not fully encompass the spectrum of Lotus's sound, which is difficult to explain for the band and fans alike. Miller described it as "jazzy house, trance, ambient drum and bass, all of which adds up to the group's own amalgam of sound."

Dan Valen (sophomore-English), who saw Lotus in September, described the group's music as danceable and layered electronic funk with a tendency to move up and down in its intensity.

"It's definitely got an electronic feel to it, but it is chilled out," he said. "However, they do climax."

Miller explained these complex descriptions as a result of the group's desire to create a solid groove.

"The thing we focus around is groove, playing in the pocket. That can go in so many different directions, which is why it's so hard to describe," he said. "We try not to confine ourselves to one genre."

This rejection of confinement has also allowed Lotus to carve its own place in the ever-growing live electronica music scene. Miller said promoters who have worked with other bands the group is commonly compared to such as Disco Biscuits and Sound Tribe Sector 9 have noticed that Lotus has created its own place in the scene.

"I think the more we play, the more we develop our own sound," Miller said. "Those bands started before us, so we have come up in their shadows ... Since the live electronica scene is so small, people who are new to it might think those comparisons are easy to make."

Fans have also witnessed this growth. Tom Callocchia (sophomore-sociology) also attended the September show, and compared that performance to other Lotus shows he went to several years ago.

"When I saw them in high school and up here, there was a very different sound," he said. "You could tell it was different. They've changed, it's more of a different variety now."

Another element that has evolved since that show has been sales of Lotus's first studio album, Nomad, which was released shortly after September's show and eventually became last year's No. 1 seller on the Homegrown Music Network charts. But just because it's current album is still hot doesn't mean that Lotus doesn't have its eyes set on the future; Miller said one of the band's top priorities is recording another studio album before the end of the year, possibly over the summer.

Callocchia said he expects many of the Lotus fans that saw the group in September to return on Wednesday -- himself included.

"There's not that much music that goes on here, so when jam bands do come, I usually check it out. The Lotus show is one of the most enjoyable," he said. "I've seen some shows at Crowbar where people aren't getting down, but at that show, they were."