Lush

Lush. A band that I liked from the get-go. I always made a point to go see them live and always thought that they were great. It was nice to get proof of that with the release of some live stuff. Some bands that I thought were great back in the olden days (um, the mid 90s) were really quite terrible! Youtube is a double-edged sword, right? Live shows used to be about being in the moment and enjoying what was happening right in front of you. Now all you have to do is go home and look it up on youtube after the show to see what you missed when you were too busy (insert technological device, conversation, other distraction here) to be IN THE MOMENT. Of course, for oldsters like me, I can catch old video of shows I was at and be reminded that they were either as awesome as I thought or terrible in a way that I can't possibly remember. Actually, I don't let myself look stuff up that often. I prefer the memories.

Lush are a band that I have very fond memories of. Always with friends, usually at the Fillmore in San Francisco, and always sounding great and playing songs I wanted to hear. This song, Lovelife (live version), remains a favorite to this day. I've stopped trying to rationalize to myself what makes songs stab me in the heart. I'm just trying to enjoy the moment. However, Lush will always be tinged with sadness in my mind. Chris Acland, the drummer, had celebrated his 30th birthday in San Francisco with an Elvis impersonator and an audience singing him "Happy Birthday" and it was one of those things that as an audience you felt a little bit honored to be a part of. Somebody's joy. Less than two months later he committed suicide. (A side note, a few months before Chris's death another favorite drummer, Mathew Fletcher, from Heavenly had done the same thing. 1996 was not kind to British boy drummers and both deaths really hit me hard.) It put an end to the band and singer Miki Berenyi retreated from public life. One can only wonder what the future would have held for a band that was so young and talented.

Full disclosure: I snagged this mp3 from another blogger. I just can't recall who. I also can't recall if I've posted about Lush before. Hmmm.