I got into Lowgold after hearing tracks from the '108' E.P. on Steve Lamacq's Radio 1 Evening Session show in the summer of 2000. They were a bit of a 'buzz band' at the time, and were feted by the weekly music magazines, as well as Lamacq. I managed to get my hands on a copy of '108' on CD when it came out and banged on about the band to my friends whenever they'd listen (not that often).
I was chuffed when I found out they were supporting Coldplay at Leeds Met in October, and their presence on the bill helped persuade me to buy tickets for the show from a tout, after missing out when they were released. As they went on so early, the venue was only half full when Lowgold played, but I really enjoyed their set, as did my mate Spenner, so it wasn't hard to persuade him to join me at the Rocket a few weeks later to see the band on their first headline UK tour.
I bought tickets in advance from Jumbo Records for the princely sum of £5. This was the first time I'd been to a gig at the Rocket and it did not escape my attention that I'd paid the same to see a nationally touring band who were starting to make waves in the music press as 'Flatnose' John charged on the door for one of his 'local band showcase' gigs, featuring international superstars like Novacain, at the same venue. It's not a great surprise that very few people attended John's shows unless they had a personal relationship with one of the bands that was playing. Anyways...
First up were Turin Brakes, an acoustic duo who would later achieve a certain degree of fame with their debut album 'The Optimist'. At the time I knew nothing about them, but they had a decent set of songs and I was really impressed with their unusual vocal harmonies. I actually recognised one of their tracks, "Mind Over Money", which I'd once again heard on that man Lamacq's radio show. It was a great song and I bought the 'Fight Of Flight' E.P. a few weeks later as a result. The other tracks on the E.P. weren't as good as "Mind Over Money", but it was still a solid release. I played it sporadically over the next few months and ended up buying their album the following year. Their later material didn't really hold my interest, but, as one of my friends really liked them, I saw the band twice more after this show. Neither were as good as this one.
Lowgold performed a similar set to their Coldplay support slot, featuring tracks that would appear on their debut LP, 'Just Backwards Of Square'. The slightly slender crowd lapped up fuzz-pop gems like recent single "Beauty Dies Young", "Can't Say No" and "Counterfeit". I thought they were great and couldn't wait for their album to be released. With songs this good, how could they fail to ascend the heady summit of the hit parade?
Lowgold looked a bit over earnest and dull, which probably didn't help their cause, but I still can't believe they weren't a bigger success. In February 2001, 'Just Backwards...' went straight into the UK album charts at... no.33 with a bullet. By the time their second album 'Welcome To Winners' came out the musical landscape had changed dramatically and it didn't even make the top 100. A lot of bands that broke in the late 90s and early 2000s were swept away by the likes of The Hives, The Strokes and The White Stripes, and most of them deserved their fate, but I can't help feel that Lowgold were undeservedly thrown out with the bathwater.
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