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(click on the images for
a larger view)
1991
October 12 - London - New Cross Venue
This was the first proper Lush gig I went
to, Steve was still in the band.
Set list was: Stray; Bitter;
Breeze; Laura; God's Gift; Scarlet; Ocean; Nothing Natural; For
Love; Covert; De-Luxe; Second Sight; Downer; Baby Talk;
Monochrome; Sweetness & Light
I have a tape of this gig, brings
back memories of how nervous(!) I was being on the edge of the
mosh pit and that Lush was the band for me! Perfect set list.
First time meeting Miki, Steve,
Chris and
Emma. Miki changed my
friend's ticket to SLUSH.
Other memories: Stood next to
Boris Williams - drummer with The Cure - during support band
Shelleyann Orphan's set. He was "going out" with
Caroline
Crawley of the band. I was totally dumb struck for a while
(luckily my friend plucked up the courage to say Hi!) then we
had a quick chat and he signed a Lush flyer & my Boys Don't Cry
T-Shirt which I happened to be wearing at the time. Also saw
guitarist from Curve Debbie Smith. Probably other "Indie" stars
I didn't recognise. Someone in the crowd had Tom and Jerry hand
puppets(??) which Miki is heard asking about. I wish I'd gone to
the Gallon Drunk and Stereolab supported show too.
Note spelling mistake in ad |
Ticket (signed by full band) |
Cassette inlay for recording of New Cross
gig,
quality is good listened to this time and time again |
1991
November 3 - Cambridge - The Junction
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Cambridge Up The Junction Flyer -
this was the advert for tickets to attend the filming
for Up The Junction TV show, as you can see bands were
filmed one night and comedians the next. When the show
went out they cut it together to make out the comedians
and bands were on at the same time in the two sections
of the club.
YouTube video of Lush's portion of this TV broadcast
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Up The Junction
TV recording
for £1! |
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1992 February 5 -
Cambridge - The Junction All I remember about support band
Spitfire was how
they ended their set, they left the stage one at a time, singer then
guitars, leaving the drummer to end on a solo. Ticket only just
survived - it was in my back pocket totally saturated with sweat and I
had to hang it out to dry! |
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Returned in 1996 (with same friend) for a
strange deja-vue moment. |
1993
I didn't get to see Lush play in 1993 but I met
Miki
twice.
- June 13 - Finsbury Park Great Xpectations -
The Cure, Carter USM, Sugar, Belly, Frank&Walters, Senseless Things, Catherine Wheel,
Kingmaker, Family Cat, Blur
Great outdoor gig, ace collection of bands. (Once again the day before
Uni Exams!)
After Blur played 'For Tomorrow' acoustically, I bumped into
Miki and
Emma just to the right of the stage, had a quick chat about
Blur, bands,
how they both were etc. They seemed very happy and said they
were busy writing(?)
- September 13 - Cambridge Corn Exchange - The Smashing Pumpkins and
Verve (before they had to include The)
When I went to the bar between bands I met Miki on the way back from
getting a drink. I was wearing my Spooky T-shirt (the one with multi
logos). Miki made some comment about me having a great t-shirt/dodgy
band, I responded with some witty comment (well I thought so) which made
her smile, don't recall saying much else thought I'd let her get on
rather than hassling her with questions.
1994
June 8 - Bath - The Hub
This was in another
underground club (ie below ground level which all clubs in Bath have to be)
just around the corner from Moles where they played a warm up show
at the end of 1995. Much larger venue with higher ceilings and a proper
stage and dance floor (which some bands had trouble filling as people
hung back against railing surrounding it) Great gig lots of hot
exhausted people by the end. I had some University exams the next day,
so the ringing in my ears was my excuse for not doing so well! After
years of saying how great Lush were, finally other people I knew latched
onto this and got into them after this gig.
Some extra venue info: they had complaints about noise from the neighbours, it got re-vamped and renamed
Hush! before eventually closing
(not sure what has happened recently).
I saw Catherine Wheel and The Fall play there as well as
others.
Ad |
Ticket (Miki signed) |
[Some nice photos
by an unknown photographer
can be seen
here] |
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1994 August 26 -
Reading Festival Performance was delayed by technical difficulties,
plus power went out during Lit Up which really pissed off
Miki, but as a
result there was a bit more emotion behind each song played. The ending
of De-Luxe, Leaves Me Cold, Sweetness & Light was ace. This was in the
tent which gave a better atmosphere (hot, dark etc) than outside on the
Main Stage. |
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Review |
| 1995
November 16 - Bath - Moles
Miki apologised for playing badly, but she was being a
bit hard on herself, they were a bit rusty (but it had been a long time
since their last tour) Lots of new songs, raw compared to the following
year. Demystification was a great end to the encore, after
Sweetness & Light finished
the main set.
The club Moles is good and bad - it is a very intimate underground venue, there is no raised stage so at the front you are stood
right next to the band at their level, the drummer has a bit of a raw
deal as the kit is set up in the back corner with a low arched ceiling.
The ceiling above the "dance floor" is also very low, so high pogoing is
out unless you are good at dodging the lighting etc! Having said that
when I lived in Bath I saw many great gigs there (some bands just before
they "hit the big time"), after Lush, Elastica and
Babybird were probably
the best. The Lush show had a very different feel to previous and later
gigs, one of my favourites. This is where I first met M, who I will
mention later.
The photos show the
previously mentioned low ceiling and crowd at same level & close to band. Looks like I was very close to
Jo Brooks
(unavoidable in such a small venue). Apologies to her if I bumped into
her during S&L!
[Jo's photos from this same show can be seen
here]
The last photo is a not
very flattering one of support - Solar Race, sounded quite good, she had
a big voice, really like the planets and shuttle on her guitar. Captured
some funny looks from Emma, I hope I didn't annoy her too much, and the
one of Phil shows a typical expression from
Chris.
This was the
first time I'd heard the new songs, to be released on Lovelife.
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1996 January 15 - Cardiff - Gassy Jacks
Went to this gig with M, great show, pretty poor
venue - high stage not a proper dance floor, more a pub than a music
venue. Met all the band later, M took the pictures.
It was just over a week before my 22nd birthday.
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M took this pic, not sure why she took it at an angle? (not that I'm
complaining, I was so chuffed that she suggested taking the shot and
they were OK with it) Not the most flattering pic of
Miki, we are both
showing our dark roots! |
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Setlist signed by band |
1996 January 17 - Bournemouth - Old Fire Station
 Free show at a student club, this was probably the
hotest most lively gig I went to, the combination of lots of students
having to wait what seemed like ages for the band to turn up and the
fact the band was late beacause they had recorded a slot for Top of The
Pops! created a very special atmosphere. Everyone (including myself) had
had more than the usual pre-gig drinks so the mosh pit was "wild" so
there was quite a crush at the front. I remember the security had
trouble keeping everyone back. After the gig I found the dressing room
and "hung out" with Miki,
Emma, Chris and
Phil, probably didn't say much
but heard all about the Top of the Pops experience and I made them happy
by rescuing their crate of beer which someone tried to run off with!
Tried to get a few of Chris at the drums (#s 6 and 7) but without a
zoom it was tricky, didn't quite have the cheek to jump on stage. Good
to get a close up of Phil #4, picture #5 is my favourite of
Miki and
Emma + pedals and setlist (can't quite read it), picture #9 another good
shot of Miki and shows the packed in crowd having a great time despite
some drink being spilt. The "grey haired man" helping to hold the crowd
back, I'm guessing he is the tour manager/head
roadie(?) I saw him at every show (he appears in lots of my photos), I
maybe said hello a few times but never had a proper chat or found out
his name.
A big thank you must go out to Hannah F who drove the 65 miles to this
gig and waited around far to long afterwards before driving 65 miles
back in the fog.
| 1996
March 19 - Bristol - Bierkeller Good venue not too large, not too small. I do remember
starting to feel I bit old at this show (I was 22!) as there seemed to
be lots of teenagers! Sat on a sofa with band afterwards, remember
speaking to Phil mostly and being very happy just looking at
Miki and
Emma.
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setlist signed by band |
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Ad picked up at venue,
again it was
lucky to survive being in my pocket. |
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1996 March 24 - Blackwood, Wales - Miners Institute
After chatting to Chris and the others at
Gassy Jacks and Bierkeller, Chris had said he would put me and
friends on the guest list for the Blackwood show in a few days.
Being "poor students" at the time living in Bath, this meant I
was able to persuade a friend to drive me and another friend to
Wales (55 miles away, about 1.5 hours drive). When we got to the
venue in plenty of time before the show, the door staff knew
nothing about a list and me being on it! Luckily just at that
moment I spotted a black MPV/bus, which I recognised from
Cardiff, drive up. Out jumped Chris,
Emma,
Miki and Phil.
Chris recognised me straight away and apologised for forgetting about
me showing up for this gig. He was really cool and got us all in
straight away.
This venue is an impressive old building with
a good size stage and spacious dance floor with headroom! As
with Bristol there were lots of kids who were new to the band.
Again great gig, the set list as with other shows was a good
balance from all the albums. After the gig we found the dressing
room upstairs and hung out for a while. My friend Lucy got on
well with Miki, and was really pleased to be able to thank the
band for a great gig. I remember Miki showing me a letter which
had arrived for "The Rock Band Lush" or something similar. It
was from a Christian group and contained some "Cartoon
booklets", basically saying that rock music was evil and that
they were damned to hell!?! (that's how I remember it anyway)
Phil was quiet and chilled out as usual,
Chris looked exhausted,
not surprisingly considering the energy he put into his
drumming.
| 1996
March 31 - Cambridge - The Junction |
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| As previously mentioned, was strange being
back here 4 years after the last, Chris had said he'd put me on the
guest list for this gig as this was my 3rd show in less than 2 weeks,
however my name wasn't down and I couldn't get to see anyone to blag my
way in, so I had to pay (didn't get to impress my friend with "knowing
the band"). The tickets say seat #, however this was an all standing
venue. It had been opened out and revamped (?) since my last visit, they
'd removed the partition between the bar area and the main 'hall' which
I thought was a mistake it changed the atmosphere for the worse. I guess
this gig was never going to live up to 91/92 perfect gigs, however was
still great, with a young(!) energetic crowd. |
1996 May 15 - Salt Lake City, Utah - DV8
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M sent me a copy of the setlist from the show she
went to back home in Salt Lake City. The reference to Chocolate by
Chris was
because she gave them a giant Dairy Milk bar of chocolate which she had
brought back from England and Gassy Jacks by Phil was because they
remembered her (and me) from the Cardiff gig. She said they were all
really tired out from touring and missed home. They also played Ciao!
with Scheer and Mojave 3 after the encore which was "rad". |
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Picture of
the club taken by M, the band invited her to their next
gig but she couldn't make it because of the distance.
That was what was so cool about this country (UK) its
possible to follow a band around quite easily from venue
to venue. |
| 1996
July 14 - Bristol - Ashton Court
Festival The last time I saw Lush play.
 Background:
I was living in Bath (final year Uni student) so it was a short drive
over to Ashton Court. Glastonbury was not on this year, so we were
looking out for other festivals to go to. Luckily I had spotted Lush
were playing as this show was not advertised much.
Venue: Deer park and woods close by,
good sized half dome stage - decorated with brightly coloured fish! Easy to get close to the stage with
friendly security watching over. The event had a very
family friendly/relaxed feel and NO mud!
Performance: Great performance in
glorious sunny weather, whole band seemed very happy.
Chris behind a lot of dry ice and
Phil in black for a
change! Miki was in a gorgeous sparkly green dress. The
recent singles "went down well with the kids".
Post Show: Said Hi to
Miki and
Emma in
the back stage enclosure, both signed programme. They
recognised me ("..it's you again..") and I think
Emma
thought I was stalking her (not far from the truth as I
had seen them 5 times in March). Saw
Phil and
Chris not
far off, but didn't get to say Hello.....
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Cheap film camera (this was the 90s), wish I'd had a zoom
lens, Chris can at least be seen in some of these. Pic #4 is one of my
favourites (its a shame only Emma's shadow is in shot and the head
bottom left!) - Sun, shades, red hair, green dress, guitar, tights, DM
boots all perfectly posed at the mic! |
Other
Souvenirs
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Bath, England, my bedroom wall around 1996 - I think this is from just
before I moved to Dorset, the reason I included this messy bedroom pic
was because it shows the giant Spooky album cover (which sadly is no more). It was part of a record shop display (Andy's Records, Bedford
RIP), I picked it up one lunch break when I was at school. You may be
able to spot a few other Lush items (plus KOD, The Cure etc) including
the "We love Lush" mail out cover. |
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Glastonbury 1992 Cassette inlay for
recording of Glastonbury set, bought at a record fair
for around £5 - its great that now recordings are freely
shared b*stards aren't lining their pockets.
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Bill: The
signatures
are very difficult to see in this low-res photo from Guy
(click to enlarge), all I knew was the file name "hardrock.jpg"
resulting in this exchange with Miki and Emma:
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Bill: Do you recognize it? Do you know how it
ended up there?
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Emma: I don't
recognise it!
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Miki: Me neither!!!
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Emma: Hmm.....
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Miki: I actually have a
very vague memory of something to do with Lush and
the Hard Rock café... Didn’t we all sign a guitar
once for the Hard Rock? And it was just a cheap
shitty guitar... Maybe it was for that one and they
lost the original and just replaced it with any old
guitar!
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Bill: I just dug up this
2008 email from Guy:
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Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel
August 1996 Signed Guitar Photo - I stayed
at the Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas with M, we
were chuffed to find this guitar signed in
silver by all of Lush, it made us laugh that it
was above the Simple Minds one!
-
Emma: So then it is one we
signed - you can see it if you look closely. We
would have signed it somewhere else though as we
never went to Vegas.
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Since Lush finished have only seen
Phil once, playing
bass for Jesus and Mary Chain in a tent at Glastonbury 1998.
(it took me a while to remember what
these were when I found them) |
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Single Girl Stickers x 2 Calling the telephone number
on these stickers you got to hear a snippet of forthcoming single and
could leave details for the mailing list. Seemed quite advanced at the
time! Didn't know mp3 downloads were a few years away! |
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Single Girl 1996 t-shirt - only worn
a few times! had to wear this for 'Comic Relief' - wear
red to work day, it was the only red top I had (!?) so
got some strange looks that day (no change then).
Thought about giving it to a girlfriend at the time, but
decided against it..... |
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Split 1994 t-shirt - multi coloured on black! Thought the photos were funny,
this was the year that I wasn't the only person around wearing a Lush
t-shirt. |
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Spooky 1992 - well worn t-shirt,
survived Reading Festival 93,94,95,96
and the mud at
Glastonbury 95,97,98, plus many sweaty gigs 92-97. |
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Signed by the whole band, from
Cambridge Junction gig 1992. |
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