Lush – Oslo, Hackney - The Red Penguin

Lush – Oslo, Hackney

I’ve had a hypothetical list of “bands I never got to see” in my head for years. Kate Bush is no longer on it (woo hoo!), and now Lush is no longer on it either (woooo!)

I was never into shoegaze, My Bloody Valentine or the Cocteau Twins but something about Lush really resonated with me. I first saw them on the Chart Show – ITV’s Saturday morning corner of music you’d never otherwise see on TV – with a video of De-Luxe, and bought the Mad Love EP the same day. I absolutely loved Spooky, wasn’t quite so much into the follow up Split, but by the time Lovelife came out both me and Lush had been seduced by Britpop and we were friends again. I remember feeling very sad when I heard the news about Chris Acland – I was sitting in my car in Edmonton on a rare day out from the office.

There was no way I was going to miss this gig – their first since announcing a reunion recently. And it was absolutely amazing. There was a real excitement in the crowd and voices and guitars were as perfect as you could hope for. I didn’t get to see Lush many more times after this – but so grateful to be at this one!