'Nothing Natural' & Pyramids Centre 24th Anniversaries

It was 24 short years ago today...

October 29th, 1991 'Nothing Natural' was released as a maxi-single disc. It had peaked at number 43 on the UK Singles Chart. The EP was followed by a national British tour, during which time bassist Steve Rippon left the band and was replaced by Phil King. 

Incidentally, on the same day, 100's of screaming kids - the 29th of October - The Pyramids Centre, Portsmouth - LUSH is there to play. With the opening acts of Passing Clouds and Gallon Drunk on a two-leg UK tour debuting the songs from the just released Black Spring EP.

Reflecting on the music video, Miki said it was "an effing nightmare" and that the video's director had "some ludicrous idea of what he wanted [Lush] to look/act like in the video and it was nothing to do with how [the band was]." Miki further explained that the band went along with the director's suggestion as Lush "had no ideas of [their] own at all, and back in the [19]90s the solution was to offer directors a shitload of money to come up with something fabulous that MTV would play." According to Berenyi, Nirvana vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain became a Lush fan after seeing the music video.

'Nothing Natural' - 'official' promo video

'Nothing Natural'- live at Toad's Place, New Haven, CT - March 23, 1992

LUSH's Last TV Appearance - Sep 8, 1996

It was September 8, 1996, on this blogger's birthday, that Lush appeared on First Cut in San Francisco. It was 19 years ago...

This is Lush's very last TV appearance, with a brief interview and a performance of Ladykillers and 500 (Shake Baby Shake). It was recorded the day after their show at the Fillmore.

OLO, London :: December 19, 1991

Twenty years ago today . . .

Founding bassist Steve Rippon plays his final show with LUSH. The band performs for the last time in 1991 at London's ULU along with Ride.


So this is the year of 1991. Lush has put on 55 shows on three tours, playing all across London, Europe, and overseas to the U.S. and Japan. They've been back to the recording studio and have given us the Black Spring (Nothing Natural in the US) EP plus an LP of new material (their first full studio album) is well on the way. And with Steve bidding a fond farewell departure, there's changes a-foot with a new bass guitarist soon to be surfacing in the band.

And thus for a moment we can dot the last period at the end of this busy, hectic, crazy year for the band called Lush. The following New Year of 1992 promises to carry-over some of that and quite a bit more...

Dawn of the Black Spring Tour :: Lancashire :: October 7, 1991

Twenty years ago today something Wonderful happens...

Lush launch their Black Spring Tour! Why do they launch a tour, you may ask? Because, also twenty years ago on today's date, Lush release a new EP produced by Robin Guthrie, titled "Black Spring" with the tracks Nothing Natural and God's Gift and a cover of the Beach Boy's Dennis Wilson's "Fallin' in Love", and Monochrome. Until now none of the band's new original songs have been played live.

To get things rolling Lush warm up with their first show of the tour at Lancashire's Colne Municiple Hall, joined by bands Gallon Drunk (remember the line Miki used on the signed copy of a Black Spring ep, from my last post?) and Nature Things.


View the Black Spring tour dates poster from Light From A Dead Star.org

In addition to the warm up gigs: Colne (October 7), and Northhampton's Irish Centre (8) there will be four upcoming London shows: Powys Square (9), Holloway Rd. (10), Mike End (11), New Cross (12).

Next up, two French shows: Lille, France (18), Paris, France (19)

Following this there will be gigs in: Bradford University (October 21), Glasgow Mayfair (22), Manchester UMIST (23), Sheffield University (24), Colchester Essex University (25), Cambridge Junction (26), Bristol Bierkeller (27), Woverhampton Fox's (28) and Portsmouth Polytechnic (29).