A group of musicians headed by Sally McKay and Mike Young from Ontario. The group often has players from the Gorillaz, including Kid Koala and Dan the Automator.

The funky beats are all sex orientated or seductive themes as well as their outfits (they wear pajamas or lingerie) and at one of their shows at the House of Blues, Hollywood they played some amazing beats. Excellent band in the fringes of many musical genres

One of the best things about seeing a really good concert is the way the band interacts with the audience. You can hear the music any time by just popping a cd into your stereo, but a band with stage presence will make its performance not just a concert, but a show. And Lovage puts on a damn good show.

I saw them a few hours ago at the Middle East Restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The music was great, but they added a few more little touches that made it even better.

So, some highlights:

  • Several of the band members came onstage in loungewear -- sort of cheesy, sort of cool silk robes.
  • During several of the songs, Kid Koala (the turntablist for the band) collected donations in a cup from audience members near the stage. As far as I know, the money went solely to Kid Koala, not a charity or anything.
  • The bassist (or possibly the guitarist -- I was pretty far away and pretty short) made two costume changes during the show. After the loungewear, he changed into a thong with nothing else but a white tie. According to my six-foot-tall friend who could actually see the stage over everyone else's head, he then had a guy from the audience come up onstage and whip him. Later on, he donned a Spiderman costume. It's worth noting that all the other band members stayed in semi-normal clothing for the entire time.
  • Jennifer Charles (one of the lead singers) faked an orgasm for one of the songs.
  • During a song performed only by Kid Koala, Mike Patton (the other lead singer) and one of the other band members (again, I couldn't quite see who it was, due to my height) came through the audience with a bottle of chocolate syrup (Hershey's), pouring it into people's mouths so that it got all over their faces, and then licked it off of them. They got within a couple feet of me and my friend. However, being the wuss and monogamous person that I am, I made sure to steer clear.
  • During the encore, Mike Patton announced, in a gameshow host-type voice, "All right, folks, it's that time of the night where the audience interacts with the band members!" They proceeded to hold a slow dance competition in which three audience members danced with the Jennifer. Contestant #2 was female, so I expected her to automatically win. However, contestant #3 picked Jennifer up and spun her around, so he ended up winning instead. He was supposed to get some "hot goat-sex weed" but ended up receiving a dollar from Mike Patton instead. Almost as good. Incidentally, Mike said that Jennifer was his girlfriend; this makes sense considering the subject matter of most of their songs and how touchy-feely they were with each other.

And that is why Lovage are worth seeing live.

Also, according to http://www.allmusic.com, the only people appearing on Lovage's album, Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By, are Afrika Bambaataa (guest appearance), Jennifer Charles (vocals), Kid Krupa (turntables), Mike Patton (vocals), Howie Weinberg (mastering), Kid Koala (guest appearance), and Dan "The Automator" (producer, mixing). I have found no connection between the band and Sally McKay or Mike Young.

Addendum: I now understand the confusion about the band members. I did a search on google.com for a combination of Lovage, Sally McKay, and Mike Young, and came up with only two sites. I found a third by going to www.lovage.com. All three of these sites say that Lovage is a band from Ontario whose first album, Idiots and Mystics, came out in 1996. I would just assume that this meant there were two bands with the same name, but www.lovage.com claims that Lovage (the Ontario version) opened on January 15 (it does not specify the year) for none other than Dan the Automator, Kid Koala, and Mike Patton. My only guess is that Dan and crew liked the name of their opening band so much that they decided to adopt it.

Addendum #2: Hyperspace has informed me that www.lovage.com no longer exists. Sorry, kiddies. But take my word for it -- when that site existed, it really did supply me with that strange and confusing information I referenced above.

Lovage - Levisticum officinale - aka English Lovage, Bladder Seed, Love Parsley and céleri batard (false celery).

I first came across lovage cordial as a young child. Brandy and lovage was accepted as one of those drinks that was okay to consume at any time of the day or night because of its medicinal properties. I often wondered if this was one of my grandmother's excuses to get 'tiddly'!

Lovage is an herb belonging to the Umbelliferae family; its aroma is reminiscent of celery. It has been used throughout the ages to settle the digestion and as a diuretic; it was claimed to be a 'wonder-drug' in the middle ages, when all parts of the plant were used for culinary and medicinal purposes.

The lovage plant is a perennial which grows well in the UK although it is thought to have originated in the Middle East. It has tall, hollow stems growing up to 5 feet high, and a thick fleshy roots, both of which are edible. The leaves are similar to celery leaves in shape; they are aromatic and a powerful but tasty addition to salads, soups and stews. The umbels of pale yellow flowers form on top of long stems in early summer and the fruits are small, brown and elliptical. It is easy to propagate by seed or by division of the root.

Medicinal uses
  • An infusion of the seeds or leaves has diuretic properties
  • The leaves used to be put into travellers' shoes for their deodorant and antiseptic properties
  • A decoction of lovage was thought to be a powerful aphrodisiac
  • It is a useful herb for treating colic and flatulence in infants and children
  • Culpepper recommended that an infusion dropped into the eyes taketh away their redness or dimness.
  • An infusion in water can be used as a mouth wash and a gargle for sore throats
  • A few drops of lovage cordial added to brandy settles the digestion (allegedly!)

http://members.rediff.com/vegindia/cl5.html
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/l/lovage42.html

Lov"age (?), n. [F. liveche, fr. L. levisticum, ligusticum, a plant indigenous to Liguria, lovage, from Ligusticus Ligustine, Ligurian, Liguria a country of Cisalpine Gaul.] Bot.

An umbelliferous plant (Levisticum officinale), sometimes used in medicine as an aromatic stimulant.

 

© Webster 1913.

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