Lush – Live At Shinjuku Liquid Room, Tokyo – September 18, 1996 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
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Lush, live in Tokyo this weekend. It was a huge cause for celebration when it was announced, back in 2015, that Lush were reuniting, at least for a few concerts. As the excitement became palpable, it was decided to keep it going for as long as was comfortable before putting it all to bed and getting on with lives. They did a tour, issued an ep of new material and then decided to bow out on a high note and get back to the day-to-day.
It was wonderful, if not bitter-sweet. Remembering Lush back to their debut ep, Scar and being a fan ever since, it was a much needed boost to learn they were reuniting. But that it was only going to last for a short time was knowing the party was going to end sooner or later, as all parties invariably do.
But luckily, Lush co-founder Miki Berenyi decided to form something new – and so Piroshka has been on the radar since – much to everyone’s relief.
This concert is also bitter-sweet, and maybe more bitter because it marked the last Lush performance, a month before drummer Chris Acland took his life. It sent the band into an extended hiatus before announcing an official breakup in 1998.
But while this concert unknowingly closes one chapter, it opened another one almost 20 years later. But at the time no one knew that, certainly not the audience.
So this concert is significant on several levels – it presents a band that was hugely influential during what came to be known as Shoegaze, on the verge of changing directions. It also is significant in that, the change in direction never really materialized because fate just had a different set of plans.
In any event, crank it up and enjoy the moment.
