Lush’s First U.S. Radio Performance in 20 Years for KCRW Was a Very Big Deal

Written by

dsc_8728-copy-2
English band Lush formed in 1987, and initially split (officially) in 1998. While that announcement came in ‘98, the band hadn’t played together since the loss of their drummer Chris Acland to suicide in 1996.

Lush announced their reunion towards the end of last year via a series of social media revelations. The official proclamation was as follows;

“We’ve been away for ages and ages, but we’re really excited to announce that we’re finally ready to reform as Lush. For all the fans who have been pestering us to do this: thanks so much for your patience and support! We wish it could have been sooner but, for many years, it was just too painful to contemplate without Chris, and then all kinds of life-changing commitments made it impossible. Now, at last, the three of us are in the right place at the right time to play music together again.”

And so with a new EP, “Blind Spot“, and several reunion shows under their belt (including Coachella 2016) Lush took to their Morning Becomes Eclectic appearance like gangbusters.

Despite all of their endearingly British attempts to underplay the impact of their reunion/today’s performance, there was a level of thrilled assuredness as they made their way through classics including “Ladykillers”, and “Desire Lines”.

Lead singer Miki Berenyi performed barefoot and introduced new song “Out of Control” by stating that it was about her daughter, but that today is in fact her son’s birthday so she would dedicate it to him.

Meanwhile, guitarist Phil King wore a shirt that read “Shoegazer” to acknowledge the band’s history with that problematic, but also kind of essential, genre tag.

The performance was irresistibly charming, and appeared to be the direct result of people that are genuinely happy to be at it again.

That, on paper, may not sound like the makings of a big deal performance, but I assure you it really was.

Save

Save