Slim Chance Recordings

The room is pitch black. Only a eerie red glow cuts through the fog that covers the stage. You can make out several banners with Oriental symbols in the background, the kind you see in Kung Fu movies. An orchestral soundtrack starts playing through the speakers. Am I in the wrong place? Is this the Prague Symphony? From backstage, a bright halogen flashlight cuts through the red fog. Here’s Alan Steward, in his typical Indiana Jones adventurer outfit, entering the stage with the bright halogen flash light scanning the stage. He is pointing his flash light into the crowd, scanning the audience while the smoke thickens and the colored glow itensifies.

Suddenly, a booming 808 drum beat cuts through the orchestral soundtrack. Yes, I am in the right place and the “King of Chill” has just entered the “Temple of Boom”. Alan grabs a guitar and sits down centerstage. Not an ordinary guitar mind you, this one you can see through. He starts playing an acoustic solo that reverberates sweetly throughout the room while the sub bass continues to boom in sync with the ever swelling sounds of the orchestra. We are in for a good chill this evening.

Well, not really. As soon as the first song finishes, an ultra deep synth bassline is taking over paired with a pounding drum beat. A sweet female voice chants in Hindi over the arpeggiating synth lines and pounding rhythms of “Global Warning”.

In the middle of all this multi cultural audio mayhem is Alan, pumping out guitar leads that would make Jimi Hendrix blush. This musical magician has taken command of the stage, effortlessly controlling the multiple keyboards, vocoders and drum pads. The high tech light show is in perfect sync with the music, switching from multi colored washes bathing the stage in a colored glow to strobes and lasers that move to the beat of the music. Alan’s live repertoire includes a mix of songs from all of his four albums, from “The Groove Enigma” to the unreleased drum and bass tune “Swing of the Pendulum” from his upcoming “Temple of Boom” album. Calling his show “high energy” may be an understatement. Alan combines rock, electronica and world music into a tight coherent musical mixture that is almost impossible to describe.

With every song, Alan seems to be raising the energy level just a little and by the end of the show, the audience is rocking. It’s the return of the rock star. Alan is playing his daft punk inspired rock anthem, “Underdog”. The audience is singing along while Alan grabs his guitar and leaps to the front of the stage to play the final lead. “We are all just Underdogs. we are all just Underdogs” The vocoders are fading…….. The King has left the building!