What happened to LUSH?

Good timing cos I'm working in London that day!

Actually, £26 has put me off :)

Yeah it nearly did for me as well tbh, but it has been almost 20 years since I last saw them and it's a small venue, no dealing with Roundhouse crowds.

So this is tonight! No support band, on stage at 8:30.

I only saw Lush twice and both times it was during the Britpop years, just slightly too young to see them in the early 90s, apparently their setlist will be drawing heavily from the early stuff on this tour, much like Ride I guess.

Enjoy. I'm glad they'll be focusing on the earlier stuff (as I was with Ride) as I didn't listen to much they did after Spooky.

i know Split is considered to be a lost classic but they hated making it. i'm guessing setlists would pretty much resemble the Ciao 'Best Of' but i'd be happy if it was mostly pre-Split tbh. now i just have to avoid seeing the setlists for another 6 months after they shifted the Manchester date around from May to November.

SPOILERS

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/lush/2016/oslo-london-england-5bf19778.html

Was great. Emma fluffed the solo on hypocrite but that was early on and they were pretty tight after that. I was struggling to think what I'd've liked them to play and only came up with nothing natural. Of course my fucking train was cancelled but luckily there's one more.

sounds excellent judging from reports. saw their last ever Uk gig in 96, bit gutted to have missed the first one since.
and yeah no Nothing Natural is weird.

My sister came to visit me in Reading while I was at uni there in 1996 and Lush were playing and she somehow lost her ticket on the way down. We walked all the way back looking for it but didn't find it. I went back and watched them on my own anyway. We did eventually see them together a couple of months later at phoenix festival. I was 19 she was 16. Tbh I only really remember that they played their Zounds cover at the end

Review, set list, videos
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/lush-played-london-their-first-show-in-nearly-20-years-pics-video-setlist/

tonight's LA show is being postponed til the 25th

http://buzzbands.la/2016/04/14/lush-show-postponed/

Out of Coachella too. Visa problems, I think.

this Visa stuff sounds bloody crazy.

in the meantime this is excellent

http://4ad.com/forewords/choruslines/

Miki: Steve left after our 'secret' support appearance with Ride at ULU in London, in December 1991. To be honest, when Lush started, we needed a bassist and I asked Steve because he was a nice bloke, not because he was an amazing bass player! His taste in music was quite different to ours and I don't think he even liked any 4AD bands. Once he'd had the experience of a headline tour and making a record, he was done.

Steve: I'd had a brilliant time in the band but I wasn't keen to get on the tour-record-tour bandwagon which I could see looming, so I got out while I was still enjoying it. I missed Miki, Chris and Emma, but I spent my first year out of Lush travelling round the world with my girlfriend and it was the best thing I ever did so I didn't regret leaving.

^ Interesting. I was wondering why they had chosen to go with Phil rather than Steve for the reunion. I was at that gig (the Ride one) and I remember them announcing that it was Steve's final gig with them.

yeah some fascinating stuff in this. good to hear from Steve again. i recall the last gig i saw with him (October '91) they said he was going off 'to write a book'. i sorta forgot just how 'different' each of the first 3 EPS/singles sounded, each having a different producer. they don't sound that separate from each other now.

had to lol at this

Emma: I remember a meeting at Columbia. While they were schmoozing us with all the amazing things they were going to do for us, one of their people was sitting next to me taking notes. I caught a glimpse of his notepad and he'd written: "We already have Ultra Vivid Scene, do we need this band as well?"

And my interview with Miki!

http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/After-two-decades-British-band-Lush-returns-to-7245970.php

Neg Raggett is a freelancer writer.

lol is that your PUA name?

Having seen the set lists for the two gigs they've actually managed to play, it doesn't look like they're going to play my favourite (Ocean) or one that I thought they would definitely play (Nothing Natural).

xpost -- Good ol' Neg.

Neg Radget

Neg Ratchet

lol

I'm at The Roundhouse. They'll be on in an hour. Support band is awful.

Support band were so irritating. "Tallyho, gollygosh this is a big crowd" put down your Innocent smoothie please

Lush were ace despite not doing "Nothing Natural", and the dedication to Chris had me a little teary.

As someone who didn't see them in the 90s,they were fantastic. It's been a long time since I've heard guitars sound that good. Also Miki was clearly having the time of her life up there.

They were literally giving tickets away outside though.

who was the support?

oh Pixx. she's on 4ad. I liked one song I heard about a year ago

?

It wasn't Pixx last night, some group called Spectres

I was there on Saturday. First time I'd seen Lush since Glastonbury 1992, and they were just great. Very fortysomething-pleasing. And though I love Lovelife, I was pleasantly surprised that they didn't draw much from it for their set.

New EP is swell. "Lost Boy" the highlight for me so far.

I wasn't as close for the Chicago show Sunday night as I was for Belly on Saturday, but I did get a few pics you can see here. I love that Phil King was just wearing a black t-shirt that said SHOEGAZE in white letters.

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/14379927_10209618056464937_121885206211117349_o.jpg

How were they?

Outstanding -- just like with Belly, they haven't missed a beat. Miki plays that 12-string -- and the Gibson Firebird she switched to for a few songs -- with amazing ferocity, and Emma sounds as great as ever. Rhythm section was super-tight. They opened with De-Luxe and it was like being back in 1991.

Full set list:

De-Luxe
Breeze
Kiss Chase
Hypocrite
Lovelife
Thoughtforms
Light From a Dead Star
Undertow
Lit Up
Scarlet
Etheriel
Desire Lines
For Love
Out of Control
Ladykillers
Downer
Sweetness and Light

Encore:
Lost Boy
Nothing Natural
Leaves Me Cold

Encore 2:
Monochrome

am so jealous. Thanks for posting pics Phil.

I am so gutted they didn't do Nothing Natural when they were in London

Saw them in Boston, equally great. Miki was pretty funny, "Do you remember this one? That's because you're fucking OLD!" Also said "If you have teenagers, you'll relate to this song" before they played "Out Of Control" from the new EP.

Someone put up De-Luxe from the show the other night. Does not capture Miki's frequent between-song vaping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DhH07e_yzg

Huh.

Band Statement:

We are very sad to announce the departure of Phil King from the band. As a result, we will no longer be able to appear at the Iceland Airwaves and Rolling Stone Weekender festivals - massive apologies to everyone who was looking forward to seeing us play there. We are in the process of acquiring another bass player and look forward to our final show at Manchester Academy on November 25th.

Phil's twitter:

Before you ask...no comment.

Does "final show" mean final show ever? Have they said anything about carrying on vs. stopping?

I'll do it!

his twitter said "before you ask, no comment" and then "I would say "I need to spend more time with my family" - but that just makes me sound like a disgraced politician." so who knows; could be a personal family thing.

it's a weird one.. i mean there were only a few dates left to play. i wonder why he couldn't have hung on a few more days, especially now they've had to cancel some shows. bit of a downer to end the tour on! still i hope they find a bassist. it's been a successful reunion it seems, although cursed with some bad luck (visa hassles, rescheduled dates.. ) 20th anniversary yesterday of Chris Acland's passing too. after this tour i guess that's 'that'?

Hey, if Steve Rippon's not doing anything...

So what really happened with Phil that caused him to up and quit?

He's in the Jesus And Mary Chain now, by the way:

"Damage and Joy is out March 24 via ADA/Warner Music. It follows the band’s 1998 LP Munki. The new album was recorded with producer Youth. It features contributions from the band’s touring drummer Brian Young, ex-Lush bassist Phil King, and Youth on bass. They’ve so far put out “Always Sad” and “Amputation” from the album."

He's been playing with JAMC for years.

ah, ok - didn't know, sorry :(

Yeah he completed those sessions before he left for the reunion, IIRC.

Should note that the two Thoughtforms fanzines that were put out last year essentially act as the perfect complement to the box set, being de facto liner notes for it.

it's not clear at all but I got the feeling he maybe wanted to spend more time with his family. but there was some weird twitter back and forth with mickie where he insinuated she was unpleasant to him or had said nasty things about him.