Home

Reunion

Links

 

Music

Video

Lyrics

Gigography

Discography

 

Band

Press

Photos

Memorabilia

Band News

Band Profiles

 

Stories
Fans

Miki

Phil
Photo Book

Guestbook

 

Site Updates

Credits

Disclaimer

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lush Live Show Video Collection

 

This Page Is Obsolete
When this website was launched in 2007, there were virtually no Lush videos available online (YouTube was only 2 years old!) and the only way to obtain videos of live Lush performances was on VHS tapes and DVDs. This page was created to facilitate trading live Lush shows on physical media with other fans. It was a list of the shows I had in my collection at the time, and shows I was looking to acquire. Since then, hundreds of Lush live videos have been uploaded on YouTube, including many complete shows, so this page is no longer of any use. I am leaving it in place as a reminder of what life was like for Lush fans before YouTube!

 
This page was replaced in 2017 by these two pages which include over 40 playable videos of live shows:
For the Lush promotional videos, see the Video Clips page
 

This page is a listing of all the audience-recorded videos of live Lush shows in circulation that I know of. I'm sure there are many more such videos that have not been discovered. Personally, I feel these amateur videos--while not great in technical quality--capture the experience of seeing Lush live better than any slick professional production.

 

 

1990-Mar-03  -  Egham  -  Royal Holloway College  -  36 min

Thoughtforms
Second Sight
Bitter
Downer
Scarlet
Etheriel
Breeze
De-Luxe
Leaves Me Cold
Hey Hey Helen
Baby Talk
Audio: Decent, except Miki's voice is muffled. Video: Good, but there is a lot of smoke obscuring everyone except Miki, and the venue is dark. Performance: Excellent early performance, with a short-haired Miki who gets very animated at the end of Baby Talk. POV: From the back of the crowd, lots of heads block the bottom of the screen but the stage is still mostly unobstructed. Camera work: Fairly steady, but stays zoomed out way to far for most of the show. Zooms in to a medium shot of Miki only a few times. Mood: A lot of energy, but Miki barely speaks a word throughout the show. The crowd is rowdy, lots of yelling. Notes: There is some technical problem after the second song which causes a delay of several minutes.

 

1990-Mar-14  -  London  -  Subterranea

 

1990-Mar-16  -  Manchester  -  Boardwalk

 
1990-May-25  -  London  -  University of London Union
Second Sight
Thoughtforms
Bitter
Downer
Breeze
Leaves Me Cold
De-Luxe
Sweetness And Light
Scarlet
Baby Talk
Covert
Etheriel
Hey Hey Helen
Audio: Poor. Video: Fair to poor, gets a little better during the encore. Performance: Excellent, but its hard to tell because of the poor audio. POV: From the rear balcony, unobstructed. Camera work: Fairly stable, but stays zoomed out to the whole stage most of the time, only briefly zooms to a medium shot of Miki and Emma. Mood: Very rowdy crowd, Miki makes a lot of comments between songs but they're mostly unintelligible due to poor audio.

 

1990-Jun-25  -  Cambridge, England  -  Junction  -  40 min
Second Sight
Thoughtforms
Bitter
Downer
Breeze
Leaves Me Cold
Etheriel
Baby Talk
Scarlet
Sweetness And Light
Covert
De-Luxe

Dated 1990-May-26 on Neil's website

 

1991-Mar-22  -  Providence, RI  -  Campus Club  -  55 min
Thoughtforms
Breeze
Bitter
Second Sight
Take
Covert
De-Luxe
Etheriel
Ocean
Scarlet
Sweetness And Light
Downer
Baby Talk
Monochrome
Leaves Me Cold

Audio: Very muddled Video: Almost useless. Very blurry, as if there is a layer of grease on the lens. This must have happened during a tape-to-tape transfer, and it would be wonderful to locate an earlier-generation undamaged copy. POV: Perfect. At the front of the stage, completely unobstructed. Camerawork: Very good, but its pointless due to the poor video quality. Performance: Very good but not animated, as is typical of their earlier shows. Mood: Good, Miki talks to the crowd often and Emma also talks a bit. Notes: Basically this should be considered an audio-only show, although the audio is very bad also.

 

 

This was previously listed here incorrectly as "1992-Mar-24"
A much higher quality version has since been uploaded to YouTube, and its fantastic.

 

1991-Mar-15  -  New Cross, London  -  The Venue  -  51 min
Bitter
Breeze
Take
Scarlet
Ocean
Monochrome
Thoughtforms
Tiny Smiles
Downer
Covert
De-Luxe
Baby Talk
Etheriel
Sweetness And Light

From Neil's website: Good sound and good shot of the stage. Some annoying long shots of the ceiling and wall in some places.  

 

1991-Jun-30  -  Giessen, Germany -  Bizarre Festival  -  30 min
Thoughtforms
Breeze
Bitter
Leaves Me Cold
Covert
De-Luxe
Ocean
Sweetness and Light
Downer
Baby Talk

From Neil's website: An outdoor show at the Bizarre Festival, shot close to the stage but with lots of heads in the way.

 

1991-Oct-11  -  London  -  Queen Mary College  -  55 min
Stray
Bitter
Breeze
Laura
God's Gift
Scarlet
Ocean
Nothing Natural
For Love
Covert
De-Luxe
Downer
Sweetness And Light
Monochrome
Leaves Me Cold

From Neil's website: Handheld camera from the audience with lots of good shots of the stage but heads often in the way. Interesting version of "Nothing Natural" that used a drum track. Originally from PAL source.

 

1991-Oct-18  -  Lille, France  -  L'Aeronef  -  65 min
Stray
Bitter
Breeze
Laura
Etheriel
Scarlet
Nothing Natural
For Love
Covert
De-Luxe
Downer
Sweetness And Light
Baby Talk
Monochrome
Leaves Me Cold

Camera work: Shaky at times, but it does move between the band members rather than staying on Miki. Not much zooming, but it’s always close enough to see. POV: Very good, probably rear balcony, completely unobstructed. Mood: Everyone in the band seems to be in a good mood. There is some chatting between songs, with a few words in French. Venue: Way too dark, Miki jokes about it early on. Performance: Fair. Miki’s voice is off and her guitar playing is not very animated. Video: Fair, the main problem is the venue is too dark. Audio: Fair to good.

 

 

This was part of the Les Inrockuptibles music festival organized by a French music magazine (thanks to HTH in the Guestbook for correcting the venue name!)

 

 

1992-Feb-08  -  London  -  Town & Country Club  -  50 min
Nothing Natural
Ocean
For Love
Starlust
Covert
De-Luxe
Downer
Sweetness And Light
Superblast!
Monochrome
Baby Talk
Scarlet

Video: Poor. The stage is extremely dark.  Audio: Good. POV: Elevated, from the back, unobstructed. Camerawork: Poor, very static, never zooms in. Performance: Very good. Mood: Excellent, Miki jokes with the crowd a lot between songs

 

1992-Mar-23  -  New Haven, CT  -  Toad’s Place  -   58 Min
Stray
Bitter
God's Gift
Nothing Natural
Ocean
For Love
Starlust
Covert
De-Luxe
Downer
Sweetness And Light
Superblast!
Monochrome
Baby Talk

POV: Perfect. Front row center, completely unobstructed at all times. Video: Pretty good, better than most Lush shows. Vivid colors, good lighting. Audio: Fair. A bit muddled, and Miki’s voice is almost inaudible at first. Camera work: Very shaky at times. The first few minutes are rough but it gets better later on. Lots of beautiful shots and tight close-ups throughout the show, mostly on Miki but also on Emma and Chris. There are many tight close-ups of Miki and Emma’s guitars. The cameraman sometimes gets lost when he tries to pan back and forth. Turns to the crowd a couple of times, which is a nice touch. Performance: Good. Miki is very animated throughout, and even Emma sways back and forth a bit. Mood: All-around fun mood throughout the show. Miki jokes with the crowd between most songs. At one point Chris notices the camera is pointed at him and laughs. Before the encore Miki reaches off-camera (to a fan?) then starts urging Emma to “touch him Emma, touch him” then something happens (still off-camera unfortunately) which causes Miki to mockingly recoil in shock. It’s very funny.
Notes: Currently tied (with Electric Ballroom '96) as my second-favorite live Lush video overall. If it weren’t for the early set list, it would have tied for most-favorite (which is San Francisco Fillmore '96). 

 

1992-Mar-28  -  Trenton, NJ  -  City Gardens

 
1992-Apr-15  -  San Francisco, CA  -  Union Square  -  49 min
  1. Stray
  2. Bitter
  3. Thoughtforms
  4. Nothing Natural
  5. For Love
  6. Starlust
  7. Scarlet
  8. De-Luxe
  9. Sweetness And Light
  10. Leaves Me Cold
  11. Monochrome
  12. Downer

Performance: Really excellent performance, Lush at their best. Miki's playing is very animated throughout. Mood: Everyone seems to be in a great mood. Miki is always smiling and jokes a lot with the crowd, which is very much into the band. Venue: This is an outdoor daytime show on a sunny day in an urban park setting with flowers all around. The light is great and Miki is looking positively radiant and very beautiful.

I have four different videos of this show:

Camera 1) Shot from the back of the crowd and to the right, at ground level. The right half of the stage is obstructed by trees, however Miki (and Emma, unlike most videos) can be seen throughout the show. The camera is held above the crowd, although crowd surfers often obstruct the view briefly. Stays on a two shot of Miki and Emma most of the time, does not zoom in as tight as camera 3. The video and audio quality are outstanding, the best of these 4 videos. Obtained from the cameraman, who digitized it from a 1st-gen VHS copy of the original Sony HandyCam CCD-F70 8mm tape. (50 Minutes - the complete show)

Camera 2) This version is shot from various positions around the stage resulting in many amazing shots. Miki can be seen stomping on her pedals and there are close-ups of Miki and Emma's guitars. The end of Leaves Me Cold is amazing, as if we're standing right next to Miki while she frantically pounds on her guitar. After De-Luxe she reaches into the crowd and lets a fan shake her finger, then she makes a funny face and announces "You don't know where that finger's been" and the crowd laughs-very funny. There are some shots of Union Square, which is positively jammed. Video quality is good, audio is very muddled. (43 minutes - Bitter is missing)

Camera 3) Shot from the back like camera 1, but from the center with the entire stage visible. The stage is unobstructed, but the bottom of the screen shows lots of heads. Camera is a bit shaky and remains zoomed out to the whole stage most of the time, occasionally zooms in to a medium close-up of Miki. Video and audio quality is only fair. (48 minutes - Stray is missing)

Camera 4) Shot from a poor angle at the back and to the left. The bottom left of the screen is blocked by speakers, Chris is not visible and Emma can be seen only briefly. However Phil can be seen through most of the show. Camera is very steady but stays on a wide shot most of the time. Video and audio quality is almost as good as camera 1. (52 minutes – the complete show)

 

1992-Apr-18  -  Vancouver  -  Commodore Ballroom

 

1992-May-14  -  Lausanne, Switzerland  -  Dolce Vita  -  57 min
Stray
Bitter
Breeze
Nothing Natural
Ocean
For Love
Starlust
|Covert
De-Luxe
Downer
Sweetness And Light
Superblast!
Monochrome
Leaves Me Cold

POV: From the back, above the crowd. Unobstructed. Video: Fair. The venue is very dark, hard to see anything. Audio: Fair. Slightly muffled. Camera work: Fair. Zoomed out too far most of the time, with only brief medium shots. Performance: Very good, but hard to judge due to the poor audio and video. Mood: Good. Audience is very rowdy. Miki makes numerous comments between songs.

 
1992-May-28  -  Brussels, Belgium  -  Ancienne Belgique  -  60 min
Stray
Bitter
God's Gift
Nothing Natural
Ocean
For Love
Starlust
Covert
De-Luxe
Downer
Sweetness And Light
Superblast!
Monochrome
Leaves Me Cold

Video: OK, but stage is very dark. POV: Poor. Close to the front of the stage, from a very low angle looking up from the side. Camerawork:  None. The shot is virtually static throughout the show (must be on a tripod), Medium shot of Miki, and Emma’s head can be seen in the background occasionally. Miki often steps out of view and all we see is the microphone. For the first half there is something blocking the right edge of the screen. Performance: Miki puts on an excellent show, good singing and animated, but much of it is not visible since she steps away from the mike. Audio: Generally OK, sometimes muddled. Crowd: Very enthusiastic, but very rowdy. Mood: Miki doesn’t say a single word for the entire show, except “Its hot” before the encore.
Notes: This should almost be considered an audio-only show, the video is useless.

 

1992-Jun-09  -  Rome, Italy  -  Palladium

 

1992-Jun-27  -  Pilton, UK  -  Glastonbury Festival   -  32 min
Nothing Natural
For Love
Superblast!
Covert
De-Luxe
Downer
Sweetness And Light
Starlust
Leaves Me Cold

From Neil's website: Shot at the NME stage at the 1992 Glastonbury Festival, pretty close to the stage. Very shaky camera and lots of heads in the way.

 

1992-Jul-21  -  Vancouver  -  Lollapalooza

 

1993-Sep-11  - Brixton  -  Brixton Academy
 
1994-Jul-24  -  Hoboken, NJ  -  Maxwell's  -  64 min
Blackout
Starlust
For Love
Lit Up
Undertow
The Childcatcher
Kiss Chase
Light from a Dead Star
Lovelife
Downer
De-Luxe
Baby Talk
Hypocrite
Desire Lines
Sweetness and Light
Miki signing autographs

Video: Fair - purplish tint, overexposed. Digital time is displayed on-screen through the first half of the show, very annoying. POV: Near the front of the stage, but a few heads block big parts of the screen throughout most of the show (a bit less toward the end) Audio: Distorted, and right channel audio is very low. Camera work: Long and very tight close-ups of Miki from head to toe and everything in between. Pauses on her bra strap at one point! Many close-ups of her facial expressions while she sings (amazing to see on Light from a Dead Star) There is a glimpse of the set list taped to the floor and her effect pedals. Emma and Phil can also be seen several times briefly in medium close-up. Performance: Very rough (Miki actually apologizes for this) but who cares, its real. Notes:  In spite of all the above problems, this is one of my favorite live videos, because of the intimate close-ups and the Split-era set list.

 

1994-Jul-27  -  Cleveland, OH  -  Odeon  -  64 min
Blackout
Starlust
Lit Up
For Love
The Childcatcher
Kiss Chase
Light from a Dead Star
Lovelife
Downer
De-Luxe
Hypocrite
Baby Talk
Desire Lines
Sweetness and Light
Leaves Me Cold

Video: Excellent. Encoded directly from the original tape. POV: From the back of the audience, with the bottom half of the screen blocked much of the time . Audio: Very good, except Miki's voice is slightly muffled. Camera work: Very good. Steady. The cameraman does a great job of zooming in as much as possible (about a third of the time) over the heads in the crowd to medium close-ups of Miki and Emma, and Phil briefly a few times. Also some tight close-ups which sometimes have focusing problems. Performance: Very good. Miki's voice is in excellent form, dramatically better then the Hoboken show a few days earlier (see above). Miki's playing is animated throughout. Mood: OK, although Miki says very few words between songs. A lot of yelling from the crowd. Notes: Unfortunately, several times throughout the video there are a few seconds on tape static with the sound cutting out, but this is made up for by the very high quality picture.

 
1994-Aug-11  -  Houston, TX  -  The Abyss  -  71 min
Blackout
Starlust
Lit Up
For Love
Childcatcher
Kiss Chase
Light From A Dead Star
Lovelife
Hypocrite
Undertow
De-Luxe
Downer
Baby Talk
Desire Lines
Sweetness And Light
Leaves Me Cold

Audio: Good. Video: Excellent, the best of all videos on this page. This DVD was encoded from a 1st-generation copy of the original tape made 6 months after the show.  POV: Back of the audience, elevated. Stage is completely unobstructed, although crowd surfers sometimes block the view briefly. Camerawork: Very steady. Zooms in and out frequently and occasionally pans between the band members, but stays on a wide shot way to much, never gets closer than a medium shot. Chris can be seen behind Miki most of the time which is nice. Performance: Excellent, they are in top form. Miki's playing is very animated. Mood: Good, Miki talks to the crowd between most songs, make some jokes. Notes: This is the most widely circulated live Lush video, and it is one of the best videos on this list, but personally I think there are several that are better, such as the Electric Ballroom '96.

 

1996-Apr-03  -  Camden, UK  -  Electric Ballroom  -  64 min
  1. Heavenly Nobodies
  2. Childcatcher
  3. Lovelife
  4. 500
  5. Single Girl
  6. Kiss Chase
  7. De-Luxe
  8. Light From A Dead Star
  9. Undertow
  10. Hypocrite
  11. Runaway
  12. Sweetness And Light
  13. Ladykillers
  14. Last Night
  15. For Love
  16. Demystification

Audio: Very good (there are also two radio broadcasts of this show which are even better quality). Video: Good, the stage is well lit. POV: From the back, elevated. The view of the stage is completely unobstructed. Camerawork: Shaky at first but it gets better. Stays on a medium-wide shot most of the time and never zooms in tight, but the band members are still clearly visible in detail because of the good video quality. Stays on a two-shot of Miki and Chris most of the time which is great, a rare opportunity to see Chris for more than a moment and to also see the interaction between him and Miki. Also shows Emma and Phil occasionally. Performance: Very good. Great set list with songs from their entire career. Mood: Very good. Even though this is toward the end when the band members were clearly getting worn out from touring, they are in a good mood here, perhaps because its in their home town. Miki is smiling a lot and her playing is very animated and she talks to the crowd a lot.
Notes: This is one of my favorite shows, and the one I would recommend to anyone who has never seen Lush live (perhaps combined with one of their early shows).

 
1996-May-06  -  Cleveland, OH  -  Odeon  -  70 min
Heavenly Nobodies
Childcatcher
Lovelife
500
Single Girl
Kiss Chase
De-Luxe
Light From A Dead Star
Undertow
Hypocrite
Runaway
For Love
Sweetness And Light
Last Night
Ladykillers
Ciao!

From Neil's website: Decent show with overall good camerawork (some shaky spots) and fair audio quality. Thanks to John K for the info.

 
1996-Jun-06  -  Providence, RI  -  Waterplace Park  - 65 min
Soundcheck
Heavenly Nobodies
The Childcatcher
Lovelife - 500
Single Girl
Kiss Chase
Thoughtforms
Hypocrite
Runaway
For Love
Sweetness And Light
Ladykillers
Last Night
De-Luxe

WBRU 95.5’s Summer Concert Series

POV: At the back of the crowd, there are heads in the way much of the time. Often someone stands directly in front of the camera blocking most/all of the stage. Video: Very good. Natural light, vivid colors. Audio: Fair to good, except the base is slightly distorted. Camera work: Good. Steady, some zooming and panning but not excessive. Cameraman does the best he can considering the very obstructed view. Performance: Fair. Miki has a cold and sometimes coughs, singing is off. Mood: Subdued. Miki talks to the crowd frequently between songs, but the crowd is rather clueless and apathetic (after all, it’s a free, outdoor, daytime, show). At least it’s a nice spot, with a water backdrop.
Notes:
The first 7 minutes shows the band members arriving, waiting around, and doing sound checks. Emma does some vocals alone, and Miki plays parts of several songs alone. That part makes this show a must-see, regardless of the poor POV, audio, and overall mood.

 

1996-Jul-20  -  Zeebrugge, Belgium  -  Axion Beach Rock Festival
 
1996-Sep-06  -  Palo Alto, CA  -  The Edge  -  70 min
Heavenly Nobodies
Childcatcher
Lovelife
500
Single Girl
Downer
Kiss Chase
De-Luxe
Light From A Dead Star
Last Night
Hypocrite
Runaway
For Love
Ladykillers
Desire Lines
Sweetness And Light
Thoughtforms
Demystification

From Neil's website: Whoever put this show together put in freeze frames and digital effects, and didn't have a very good view of the stage for most of the show. Annoying to watch in my opinion.

 
1996-Sep-07  -  San Francisco, CA  -  The Fillmore  -  72 min
Heavenly Nobodies
Childcatcher
Lit Up
500
Single Girl
Downer
Kiss Chase
De-Luxe
Light From A Dead Star
Last Night
Hypocrite
Runaway
For Love
Ladykillers
Elvis sings Viva Las Vegas
Elvis sings Happy Birthday
Ciao!
Sweetness And Light
Miki leaving the theater
and signing autographs

Audio: Excellent. Video: Excellent, the best of all videos on this page. This DVD was encoded from a 1st-generation copy of the original tape made 6 months after the show. Stage is well lit. POV: From the back, elevated. The view of the stage is completely unobstructed. Camerawork: Very good. Steady, mostly medium-wide shots, occasionally zooms to a medium close-up. Spends almost as much time on Emma as on Miki.  Performance: Fair to good. Mood: OK mood, but the band seems very tired and worn out. Emma keeps turning her back to the audience. Chris, clearly exhausted, has numerous false starts, and Miki comes to his defense every time which is nice to see. Miki does talk to the crowd between most songs (she mentions Chris' birthday several times), and her playing is animated at times. Notes: In spite of the band's exhaustion, this is my favorite Lush live show for two reasons. 1) It was on Chris' 30th birthday, and they brought out an Elvis impersonator to sing him Happy Birthday. Chris got a kick out of it even though he clearly didn't like being the center of attention, and everyone had a good laugh, in spite of the overall tired mood of the show.  2) It is the last known recording of a live Lush show.

 

 
 
 
The origin of this list came directly from Neil's Lush Video Page, the only other website I know of that maintains such a list of Lush live videos, however I have added my own detailed descriptions for many of the shows. Neil has created several Lush video Compilation DVDs -- full of interviews, TV appearances, promotional videos, and much more -- that I would highly recommend to all Lush fans.

Sam's Lush Site includes transcripts of the band member's conversations for some of the shows listed here (click on the hyperlinked show dates on this page). Take a look, its very cool to see Miki's amazing between-song banter in print. Thank you Sam!

 

Tech Notes:

  • The audio/picture quality rating is for my own copy – earlier/later generation copies probably exist which are better/worse quality than listed here.
  • Audio/picture quality ratings are relative to the other videos on this page -- while a few of these videos are excellent quality low-gen copes, the audio/picture quality of most of the videos on this page is poor even compared to a used movie rental tape.
  • My show descriptions are not editorial reviews of the performances. Rather, I simply document the various aspects of each video recording, and my comments only represent my own observations which may very well be inaccurate.

 

 Dedicated to the memory of Chris Acland   

  (c) 2018