the lowstar lowdown 4 - monday 22 may 2006

hi there and welcome to the newest update from your friendly neighbourhood lowstarmen. unless of course you're reading this in the archive in which case it's only another update from sometime in the past and in all probability you're only reading it because of something we're going to mention in the future that may refer back to an earlier edition and you're hoping it's this one and that these updates were a lot shorter or at least the important bits that might come up later were done in bold or something. i expect if you're reading it in the future it's like watching a repeat of have i got news for you, where it kind of makes sense but with hindsight it's all a bit weird. or maybe each one of these updates is more like the time capsule in the blue peter garden - you've opened it up hoping to find something cool, like if they'd put in one of their advent candle things or a totaliser from some bring and buy campaign, but all that's in this one is a couple of blue peter annuals and mark curry's spare glasses. anyway, if that's what you're doing, skip this paragraph, it didn't have anything important to say...

this week we have mostly been playing a gig at plan b in brixton. so, if you're reading this hoping for some of our regular items such as thoughts from practice and the further adventures of the ikea trolley, well i think you're in for a disappointing read. the lowstar woestar survives though. a really big thanks to all of you that did come out to see us on tuesday, it's always great to see you and we really appreciate it, especially on a tuesday when we're last on. i hope you all had a great time and got home ok afterwards. a quick note should be made for the girl on the tube who had her fingers mercilessly squashed by our dopey guitarist. his hair probably got in his eyes, it's not big and it's not clever and he's very sorry. gees, man, get your hair cut, you tube psycho!

so to the gig itself. we had a great time. the soundcheck went well, big thank you to the ever brilliant shane on the desk who always looks after us well and even more importantly, always panders to magic's pedal obsession by commenting on his latest addition or that the colours look nice or something. if ever you want something from magic this is often the easiest way... flatter his pedals, he loves it.... 'my magic, what a lot of pedals you have', you say. 'why, thank you, i do have a lot.', he replies. 'and what pretty colours too, it's almost like you've spent hours thinking about the best way to arrange them.', you add. 'well, thank you very much for noticing, yes i do spend a lot of time thinking about it. funny story actually...', he begins and continues and then you just have to ask him for a pint, or some crisps and you're in. ah... this could be the little anecdote you were looking for that we mentioned earlier... hope you didn't have to read through too many of them.... so, soundcheck was good but for the really unpleasant smell on stage. dear god, it was an unholy stench. hard to put your finger on what it was exactly, i'm no wine taster, but if i was i may describe it thusly... mmm, it has the aroma of stale water on old carpet, as if the the roof had leaked several weeks ago and the water had yet to properly dry in the damp conditions of a bar, and yet, as you draw it deeper into the nose, you can pick up traces of old beer, a sniffter of vomit, and just a trace of sweaty feet. the closer you get the more the stale carpet smell takes over, but withdraw to full height and the mix is at is most potent... it was also sticky on the stage, which was all very suspicious.

the gig itself seemed to fly by, the complete set was connected/leave it/autumn/faith/alphabet blues/losing/is it now?/drone/out of control. there was much pre-gig talk of the graph of rock, which maybe one day will be displayed on the website, if we can persuade magic to draw it, although he is now talking about the graph of rock being three dimensional. he likes a challenge though, and if enough of you ask for it at the next gig (try complimenting him on his pedals first, don't forget) he may do it. the overwhelming feeling after leaving the stage at plan b, however, often has as much to do with restoring equilibrium after the onslaught we all undergo from rob's bass (or as we like to call it 'the rob throb'). something about the stage - and here i'd like to ask jennifer aniston to introduce the science bit, but we're not made of that sort of money - makes the noise from the rob's bass vibrate the floor to such an extent that trying to hit the right pedal is like playing that dancing playstation game. one day we may allow him to introduce you all to his effects pedal and then you'll all feel like those poor pedals. it's terrifying!

the noise on stage was fantastic and it was hard to pick a man of the match, but more of that later. a very special mention should go to ian's hard working (but very beautiful) van. much like magic and his pedals, the way to ian's heart is through his orange campervan. a magnificent beast of a motor, that much like its owner (although i think ian thinks of them more as good friends) has the power to rock, but is elegant and refined with it. although ian's not orange. and the van isn't quite as quick round the rack. also, the van doesn't have a nose anymore - but don't mention that to ian.

as for keith, well he was hoping his imaginary friend alan would come. but he moved away and couldn't make it. anyone else have an imaginary friend that got fed up and moved away? only keith then. i suspect there may well be more about imaginary alan through the coming weeks. please feel free to write to us and request it... entitle your email 'i'd like to hear more about the adventures of imaginary alan...' and then maybe you could do it like a competition in 25 words or less.

so to the lowstar woestar. who will it be... to set the scene, rob the throb has one award, magic has half and ian has one and a half, last time keith was warned to pull his finger out and get his act together and buck his ideas up and stop messing around. so did he heed it? did ian continue his championship winning form? could magic get one all to himself? or rob, would he return to form? well the answer from the stage is that the undoubted lowstar woestar livestar for toosdy was magic. ian was majestic on drums from start to finish, rob's bass was throbtastic throughout - despite his protestations - and keith kept himself to the side and produced some ungodly noises, but magic led from the front throughout with outstanding vocals and some weirdass noises, some head down shoegazing and some hip thrusting rocking. no blame should be attached to the others for their fine performances and keith's day will come one day i'm sure, at least he should keep telling himself that...

back to normal next week as lowstar prepare for a trip to the studio to record a few songs. we'll keep you posted as to progress next time, but before we go there's time for a few thoughts from the plan b gig...

- was magic's vocal performance down to his pre-gig green tea or his pre-gig beer?
- will lowstar ever carry out the threatened end of set 4 drum kit onslaught?
- did anyone notice keith's guitar finished faith with an e string tuned closer to e flat than e natural?
- wasn't ian's hair great?
- did rob's bass result in any unwanted anatomical mutations in those listening - please write and tell us, the frequencies may have been low enough and vibrations extreme enough to alter dna. although i was never much good at science and i might not have that quite right

er... that's it. thanks for coming and hopefully see you at the next one. more to come next week from the updates, including discussion of any topics sent in by email, the new lowstar woestar, thoughts from practise, tales of the ikea trolley, and possibly the adventures of imaginary alan, the growing friendship between ian and his van, more on rob's throb and magic takes his pedals on a trip to the seaside.

lowstar lowstopping!

blog list
recording november 2008
gig email - 20 nov 2007
gig email - 24 jul 2007
happy new year - tuesday 16 jan 2007
lowstar lowdown 17 - monday 16 oct 2006
lowstar lowdown 16 - monday 18 sep 2006
lowstar lowdown 15 - monday 11 sep 2006
lowstar lowdown 14 - monday 28 aug 2006
lowstar lowdown 13 - monday 14 aug 2006
lowstar lowdown 12 - monday 31 jul 2006
lowstar lowdown 11 - monday 24 jul 2006
lowstar lowdown 10 - monday 17 jul 2006
lowstar lowdown 9 - monday 10 jul 2006
lowstar lowdown 8 - monday 26 jun 2006
lowstar lowdown 7 - monday 19 jun 2006
lowstar lowdown 6 - monday 05 jun 2006
lowstar lowdown 5 - lowstardate 27th may.6
lowstar lowdown 4 - monday 22 may 2006
lowstar lowdown III - return of the blog (15 may 2006)
lowstar lowdown 2 - wednesday 10 may 2006
lowstar lowdown 1 - friday 28 april 2006