W♥M

The Welsh Ballad of John Evans

Gruff Rhys at Swedish American Hall (19 Apr 2025) Tour Dates 04/21 Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall 04/22 Seattle, WA @ Here – After 05/07 Belfast, UK - Black Box 05/09 Stockport, UK - Savoy Theatre 05/10 Wrexham, UK - Focus Wales 05/15 London, UK - Rich Mix 05/16 Leeds, UK - The Wardrobe 06/07 Swansea, UK, Gwyl Tawe Festival 06/11 Guildford, UK - The Boileroom 06/12 Tunbridge Wells, UK - The Forum 06/14 Ipswich, UK - Brighten the Corners Festival 08/29 Brighton, UK - Psych Fest Read More Gruff Rhys Brush up on your Welsh, yanks! Gruff Rhys, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Super Furry Animals and part of the electro-pop group Neon Neon, is digging up his solo sounds. … Chris Forsyth Meg Baird, the co-founder of Philadelphia's luminary psychedelic folk collective Espers, is co-headlining a tour with Chris Forsyth. Forsyth’s new album Evolution Here We Come …

Gruff Rhys
Swedish American Music Hall
San Francisco
April 19, 2025

I spilled my cider in the front row. Normally, this might not be that significant at an indie rock show, but this was not a typical indie rock show. This was a seated Gruff Rhys show, with a heavy dose of a Nerd Nite-style history lesson on the 18th century Welsh explorer John Evans, as told through words, music, and staged photos projected on the screen center-stage. So, the crowd was respectfully hushed as Rhys sat down at his keyboard and computer set-up when I spilled my cider. “Oh, hopefully you didn’t lose too much of that,” he said kindly to me, before proceeding.

Rhys created catchy, kooky rock during Britpop’s heyday as the frontman for the Welsh band Super Furry Animals, with fuzzed-out riffs, carefree melodies, and Rhys’ super furry Welsh accent. As a solo artist, Rhys has mellowed out, but he’s still mining new ground. Rhys’ tour this spring, celebrating the tenth anniversary of American Interior, is a hybrid performance cataloging his travels across the American Midwest and South to retrace Evans’ journey. Evans originally set out to find out the truth behind the myth of a 12th-century Welsh prince who supposedly settled among a Native American tribe.

Though a mellower affair than a Super Furries show, it was still pretty kooky. Through the course of the concert, Rhys recounted Evans’ tragic journey through staged photos featuring a John Evans stand-in: a puppet that looked like Sesame Street’s Count Dracula. There's the Evans puppet getting "arrested" by a modern-day cop cuffing him against his cop car; there's the Evans puppet pensively sailing down the Missouri River; there’s the Evans puppet stopping during his journey to enjoy an iced latte.

Rhys recounted the entire journey from beginning to end, accompanied by, of course, a full set of musical interludes. He mainly performed solo, with keyboards and guitar, but was joined by opener Chris Forsyth near the end of his set. Rhys played lovely, low-key renditions of his solo work, like “Bad Friend” from his 2024 album, Sadness Sets Me Free, and American Interior tracks like “The Last Conquistador,” “Lost Tribes,” and “100 Unread Messages.”

With the unfolding of story and song, Evans’ journey became our collective journey. Rhys related the Welsh prince myth to our present-day bout of “fake news”—something meant to fit a colonialist narrative. Even with the hilarious slide show, the night’s performance ended up being riveting, tuneful, and melancholy in equal parts. I was fascinated and entertained all night.

The Philadelphia-based Forsyth, who has opened for Super Furry Animals in the past, brought his freeform artrock atmospherics as a complementary, stripped-down prelude.

Chris Forsyth photo courtesy of Heidi Chiao

Chris Forsyth photo courtesy of Heidi Chiao

Gruff Rhys photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Gruff Rhys photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Gruff Rhys photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Gruff Rhys photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Gruff Rhys photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Gruff Rhys photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Gruff Rhys, with Chris Forsyth, at Swedish American Music Hall, San Francisco (19 Apr 2025) photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Robin Lapid ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Paul Weller at First Avenue, Minneapolis (16 Sep 2024)

16 September 2024 Monday Paul Weller with George Houston at First Avenue Paul Weller Setlist Nova Cosmic Fringes Soul Wandering My Ever Changing Moods^ That Pleasure All the Pictures on the Wall Headstart for Happiness^ Stanley Road Glad Times Have You Ever Had It Blue^ Village Fat Pop Out of the Sinking Hung Up Shout to the Top!^ Broken Stones Rise Up Singing Nothing Above the Clouds Jumble Queen Into Tomorrow Start!* Peacock Suit -- Encore -- The Changingman Porcelain Gods Wild Wood Rockets -- Encore II -- That's Entertainment* Town Called Malice* * The Jam song ^ The Style Council song Read More Paul Weller The Modfather Paul Weller is currently on a tiny US tour heading to Riot Fest in Chicago. For some reason, Minneapolis is just one of four US non-festival dates, and so naturally, the Varsity Theater show last night, September 10th, was sold out. ....

16 September 2024 Monday

Paul Weller
with George Houston
at First Avenue
first-avenue.com

The great Modfather Paul Weller announced his first North American tour since 2017. The influential singer (who inspired many Britpop bands) is touring in support of his upcoming album 66, set for May 24, the day before his 66th birthday.

66 includes contributions from Noel Gallagher, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, Madness’ Suggs McPherson, Richard Hawley, The Blow Monkeys’ Dr Robert, Le SuperHomard’s Christophe Vaillant, and Erland Cooper, with string arrangements by Hannah Peel.

Paul Weller at Pantages Theatre (13 Oct 2017)

We saw Weller when he was last here in Oct 2017 and wrote, “After the intermission, lights dimmed as the intro music of The Beatles’ ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ announced Paul Weller and his band taking the stage for a breathtaking two and a half hour headlining set that would touch on all points, of his over four-decade long career. Weller has surrounded himself with a crack band for the tour featuring longtime sidemen Steve Cradock (guitar), Andy Crofts (bass), Steve Pilgrim (drums), and Ben Gordelier (percussion) as well as new addition Tom Van Heel (keys) and kicked things off with 2015’s ‘I’m Where I Should Be’, a song which encapsulated The Modfather’s confidence in still finding his place in today’s musical landscape and also echoed the sentiments of the thousand people in attendance cheering him on.”

George Houston to open.

Tour dates:

Paul Weller USA Tour 2024

Sep 06 Red Bank NJ – Count Basie Center for the Arts

Sep 07 Brooklyn NY – Kings Theatre

Sep 08 Boston MA – House of Blues

Sep 10 Glenside PA – Keswick Theatre

Sep 11 Washington DC – Lincoln Theatre

Sep 13 Toronto ON – History

Sep 15 Chicago IL – Vic Theatre

Sep 16 Minneapolis MN – First Avenue

Sep 19 Seattle WA – The Moore

Sep 20 Vancouver BC – Vogue Theatre

Sep 22 San Francisco CA – The Fillmore

Sep 23 San Francisco CA – The Fillmore

Sep 25 El Cajon CA – The Magnolia

Sep 26 Anaheim CA – House of Blues

Sep 27 Los Angeles CA – Orpheum Theatre

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Paul Weller at First Avenue (16 Sep 2024)

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Elastica: All Nighter

Elastica: All Nighter All Nighter by Elastica Justin: “What do mean, two goes while I’m out?” It's nearly eleven Do you think we’ll stand the test of time? You’re a cloud short of heaven But you know I love you to be mine And I’m sitting here waiting Yeah, and it’s getting frustrating Got to go to the garage Got to get some fags and make some tea Can you lend me enough wedge Do you want to walk up there with me? And I’m sitting here waiting Yeah I’m tired of debating (You do me, do me now) We’ve been up all night I can feel a strange attraction Now it’s getting light Yet I can’t spur you into action Do you know we’re all alone? But I’m on my own! oh! It’s a quarter to seven Don’t you think we’ve stayed up half the night You’re a cloud short of heaven But I’d love to see you strut your stuff And I’m sitting here waiting Yeah and it could be X-Rated We could be oh-so happy We could be oh-so happy! Read More Elastica Once The Menace came out, five years later, I think people were pretty much felt disinterested in Elastica. They tried to write all original material, but it felt more or less cut and paste for me. The only songs that I really …

I wrote about Elastica in 2008, and one of the songs Jenny and I loved was “All Nighter”. We spent a little time trying to figure out the song lyrics.

One of the key lyrics that we had no idea what Justine Frischmann is singing about are these lines: “Got to go to the garage/Got to get some fags and make some tea/Can you lend me enough wedge/Do you want to walk up there with me?”

While it could literally mean a car garage, I think it’s slang for garage shop (a store that sells cheap stuff like cigarettes or “fags”). This would make sense if you consider “can you lend me enough wedge”, which an old expression for a little amount of money. The wedge refers to a time when coins were cut into wedge-shaped to make for smaller amount.

The rest of the song doesn’t really need explaining…. But here’s how I see it:

The song starts with Justin Welch asking “what do you mean two goes?” If Elastica has four band members, that means Donna Matthews and Annie Holland have left Justin and Justine alone.

The song starts nearly 11pm, and then she’s trying to give him signals that she’s into him. She’s making excuses for them to be alone together, like taking a walk to “the garage”.

The song keeps going and now it’s a quarter to 7am, and she can see the light of day… yet she’s still feeling sexual frustration. “It could be X-Rated”, but, of course, he’s completely clueless about the whole thing.

That’s how I read it, anyway. Of course, at this time, I believe Justine was dating Damon Albarn (from Blur), so it’s probably him (or Brett Anderson). Damon is actually credited on the self-titled Elastica album, but under the acronym “Dan Abnormal”.

Anyway, it’s still a lovely little quickie song.

So, whatever happened to Elastica? I guess Justine Frischmann moved to Boulder, Colorado, and became an artist. The other three (Donna, Annie, and Justine) who lives in England briefly re-united in 2017. As it turned out they were at Abbey Road Studios in London to remaster their debut album for a special Record Store Day releases.

Read more Britpop.

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Flashback: 60ft Dolls at the Whisky a Go-Go, Los Angeles (08 March 1997)

60ft Dolls at the Whisky a Go-Go, Los Angeles (08 March 1997) ticketstub 60ft Dolls Setlist Ballerina New Loafers Talk to Me No 1 Pure Alcohol Loser Stay Alison's Room Pig Valentine Hair Buzz Happy Shopper Monkey Read More 60ft Dolls Welsh bands we focused on: Super Furry Animals, Manic Street Preachers, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Catatonia, Stereophonics, and 60ft Dolls. .....

I recently found out that Carl Bevan, the drummer of The 60ft Dolls, had died at the age of 51. According to bbc.com, after the trio broke up in 1998, Bevan became a landscape artist!

I’m actually a pretty big fan of the band, and am sad to hear of his passing. I’ve mentioned it before, but the only time I saw them (and the only time they were in the USA?) was for their promotional tour for their debut album The Big 3, in 1997. I also mentioned that there were very few people in the audience, but there was that one guy that had the Welsh flag! We went backstage to meet the band and a girl back there threw up right in front of us.

The rest of the “review” is being re-published here from my The It Zine. When you read this, please note that it was written at a different time and with a different attitude.

A Different Kind of Buzz
originally published in The It Zine #3 (Jan 1998)

Here’s something you should know about the 60ft Dolls, they ROCK! Not surprisingly I’m writing this concert review because the 60ft Dolls are on Indolent Records and also opened for Sleeper on the UK tour. And not to mention they are a very good band.

Anyway, I first read about the 60ft Dolls in Select Magazine and picked up their first Indolent single “Pig Valentine” (DOLLS001) for $1.95 at Amoeba Records in Berkeley. It was pretty rocking, I must say...

By the time they released their album, “The Big Three” (which is a reference to John Lennon and the Beatles), David Geffen Records had already signed them for release in the USA. Geffen Records, as you know only sign “hits”, take a look at their roster: Sonic Youth, Weezer, Elastica, blah blah... Anything on Geffen Records would make it big because Geffen had never gone wrong with their choices - that is until they singed on the 60ft Dolls.

It's a good thing. I mean, I like the band and I am sure their fans love them, but it's only one of those things that tells you that they never have mass appeal. Sort of like Sleeper will never make it big in the USA (see Jay's article on page 12).

It is the 60ft Dolls’ first time in LA, and they are the main attraction to this festival of hard rock/metal bands. There must’ve been at least five bands on before the 60ft Dolls went on stage. And get this, they were even on early because there were loads of industry people there and they have very short attention span. That was great because we would’ve had to endure seven bands before finally seeing the 60ft Dolls. Let me mention quickly that all the opening bands SUCKED! One sounded like Whitesnake, and the others were hardcore metal bands.

Anyway, the band took the stage and the eight fans (including the three of us) that were there to see the 60ft Dolls got to the front. They had their ‘hit’ singles and closed with a song I hadn’t heard before called “Monkey”, which sounded quite good!

The band was so good that it influenced several non-fans people to go and buy “The Big Three” that was decently priced at $9 at the T-Shirt booth, which by the way, was handled by their manager! She was this really funny lass who could probably drink me under the table... erm, don't know why I said that because I don't drink.

Oh well, so I have to end by saying, go out and buy the 60ft Dolls’ first album! I got it for $7 and you should be able to get it that cheap at your local record store. It's well worth the money and if you don't like it, I'm sure you can return it and use the credit to buy something else.

Read more Musicians Who Died.

60ft Dolls Autographs

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Miki Berenyi Trio at Webster Hall, New York (08 June 2024)

06/08 Miki Berenyi Trio at Webster Hall Miki Berenyi Trio Setlist (06/08)  setlist courtesy of brooklynvegan Stray* Leaves Me Cold* Hurricane Vertigo Covert* V.O. (Piroshka song) Love at First Sight (The Gist cover) Gango Kiss Chase* 8th Deadly Sin Kinch Light From a Dead Star* Ubique For Love* Everlastingly Yours (Piroshka song) Big I Am Ladykillers* Suzanne (Moose cover) Baby Talk* with Budgie and Lol Tolhurst on drums * Lush song Tour Dates Aug 10 Margate, UK - Elsewhere Aug 10 Brighton, UK - At The Edge of The Sea Festival Sep 07 Birmingham, UK - The Hare & Hounds Read More Lush Miki Berenyi, one of the founding members of the seminal ‘90s shoegaze band Lush, loves to say “f**k.” As in, “I’ve played you a couple of Lush songs, so don’t go f**k off to the bar now.” …

In response to Miki Berenyi Trio at Great American Music Hall, San Francisco (01 Jun 2024), Sean King writes:

Great review. I first saw Lush in 1991, saw Piroshka in 2019 and saw Miki Berenyi Trio two weeks ago at NYC's Webster Hall. I thought MB3 sounded great. I didn't check any set lists beforehand but did watch/listen a few times to their professionally-recorded September 2023 Paris Popfest performance on YouTube, so I knew most of the new MB3 songs.

I like all Lush, although I'd say “Ladykillers” is my least favorite song from my least favorite album of theirs. I never expected them to play it but really enjoyed how they delivered it this time - in a more “classic Lush” manner.

By the way, opening act drummers Lol (The Cure) and Budgie (Siouxsie & The Banshees) came on to play on our show's finale at Webster Hall, “Baby Talk” (early Lush song).

Miki says this mini-U.S. tour did well enough that they play to return in 2025 (hopefully, WITH Moose!) and will also release an MB3 album next year.

Photos: That’s me and bassist Muck Conroy outside the venue beforehand. Usual bassist Ollie was filling in for Moose on guitar who’s afraid to fly. So, Piroshka veteran Mick (a founding member of Modern English) was drafted in on bass for this tour. As you may recall, he first played with Miki on the last-ever 2016 Lush reunion show. It was his idea to hold up five fingers here, as it’d been five years since we posed for that 2019 Berlin photo with Moose. He didn’t remember me per se but he remembered that Berlin show. Nice guy.

Lush (1991)

Piroshka 2019 Tour

Piroshka Setlist (27 Apr 2019)

Miki Berenyi Trio (08 June 2024)

Piroshka (27 Apr 2019)

Muck Conroy (08 June 2024)

Piroshka at Privatclub, Berlin (27 Apr 2019)

Miki Berenyi Trio (with Lol and Budgie on drums) at Webster Hall, New York (08 June 2024)

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Miki Berenyi Trio at Great American Music Hall, San Francisco (01 Jun 2024)

Miki Berenyi Trio Setlist Stray* Leaves Me Cold* Hurricane Vertigo Covert* V.O. (Piroshka cover) Love at First Sight (The Gist cover) Gango Kiss Chase* 8th Deadly Sin Kinch Light From a Dead Star* Ubique For Love* Everlastingly Yours (Piroshka cover) Big I Am -- Encore -- Ladykillers* Suzanne (Moose cover) Baby Talk* * Lush song Read More Lush I have mentioned this at various time, I was more of the Britpop-sounding Lush vs their early shoegazing beginning. That doesn't mean I don't occasional enjoy listening to Gala or Spooky …

Miki Berenyi Trio
Great American Music Hall
San Francisco
June 1, 2024

Miki Berenyi, one of the founding members of the seminal ‘90s shoegaze band Lush, loves to say “f**k.” As in, “I’ve played you a couple of Lush songs, so don’t go f**k off to the bar now.”

The audience who attended the Miki Berenyi Trio’s sold-out show at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall seemed to love the sass. But even more, they cheered a setlist full of songs from Lush and Piroshka, Berenyi’s previous bands. Mixed in with the walls of guitar and airy vocals, Berenyi dutifully delivered the hits that any legacy band knows to deliver to the fans, including Lush’s 1996 single, “Ladykillers,” part of an encore where they just pretended to leave the stage but really just stayed put, doing away with the pretense. (Although the audience did do the traditional "Please play some more!" cheering and foot-stomping, for which Berenyi was suitably amused.) But this version they offered was less “britpop” and more venomous, leaning towards a gothic-industrial mood. The whole night had a spooky vibe, a haunted mansion of atmospheric guitar and vocals trying both to summon and wake the dead.

Their setlist also included “Covert” and “For Love,” from Lush’s 1992 debut, Spooky, along with “Light from a Dead Star” from their 1994 album Split. “Was that from Split?” she asked the crowd. “I can’t f**king remember.” It’s been awhile since the band’s heyday, so she can be forgiven for the lapse in memory, as long as the trio brought the gauzy, luscious rock, which they did in spades. And since Berenyi’s recent memoir, Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success, might have rankled former Lush bandmates like Emma Anderson with its take-no-prisoners confessions, the trio’s Lush covers may be the only Lush “reunion” we get.

The Miki Berenyi Trio—consisting of Berenyi, her longtime partner Kevin “Moose” McKillop, and Oliver Cherer—also played their own songs, of course, a seamless fit for the shoegaze genre. Tracks like “Hurricane” and “Vertigo” were studded with reverb and haunting melodies. Against a backdrop of dreamy visuals projected onto the screen behind them, it was a night of aural soundscapes and Berenyi’s atmospheric vocals, the kind of music that makes you close your eyes and drift on waves of distortion and a holy racket of sound.

The opening band, Lol Tolhurst & Budgie, had dueling drumkits and instrumentals recalling the catchier ‘90s electronica-as-mood music vibe (their music features guest artists like James Murphy and Bobby Gillespie), something nice, say, for an evening on the open road before you head to a rave.

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Miki Berenyi Trio at Great American Music Hall (01 Jun 2024)

Robin Lapid ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Britpop Now 2024

Read more Britpop

Pulp USA Tour 2024 Read More Pulp Pulp - Different Class (1995) So many great songs on this album, from their hit "Common People", to the revenge "I Spy", to the dance favorite "Disco 2000", to kinkiness "Underwear". Love Jarvis Cocker and his wonderful songwriting. I have bought this album ....

Pulp
welovepulp.info

Legendary Britpop band Pulp is doing their “This Is What We Do For An Encore” tour in the US and Canada. We haven’t seen Pulp in America since 1997, so this is a big deal.

Hopefully, if these tickets sell well for these limited dates, that Pulp can expand their American tour to more cities.

We saw the band in Australia and noted that it might be the band’s last performance in the country: “I want to wrap Jarvis Cocker up in greaseproof paper and take him home for later. We saw him a couple of years ago playing his own stuff, and it wasn’t a fraction as good as this. The dancing was unexpected but very impressive. He kept saying it might be the last time Pulp ever plays in Australia. I hope he’s wrong, because that would make me very sad.

It was hard for me to tear my attention away from Jarvis and his energetic on-stage presence, hip shaking dance moves and ongoing chatter with the crowd between songs. I was so focused on him that I really didn’t notice the rest of the band, although I am sure they existed. The entire set was great, in particular the songs ‘Sorted for E’s and Wizz’, ‘Babies’, and ‘Underwear’. However the stand out highlight was, of course, the final song, ‘Common People’. An unforgettable performance.”

Tour dates:

8 Sep 2024– Chicago, IL - Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom

10 Sep 2024 – Toronto, ON – HISTORY

13 Sep 2024 – Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre

16 Sep 2024 – San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

18 Sep 2024 – Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium

Paul Weller USA Tour 2024 Read More Paul Weller The Modfather Paul Weller is currently on a tiny US tour heading to Riot Fest in Chicago. For some reason, Minneapolis is just one of four US non-festival dates, and so naturally, the Varsity Theater show last night, September 10th, was sold out. ....

Paul Weller
PaulWeller.com

The great Modfather Paul Weller announced his first North American tour since 2017. The influential singer (who inspired many Britpop bands) is touring in support of his upcoming album 66, set for May 24, the day before his 66th birthday.

66 includes contributions from Noel Gallagher, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, Madness’ Suggs McPherson, Richard Hawley, The Blow Monkeys’ Dr Robert, Le SuperHomard’s Christophe Vaillant, and Erland Cooper, with string arrangements by Hannah Peel.

Paul Weller (13 Oct 2017)

We saw Weller when he was last here in Oct 2017 and wrote, “After the intermission, lights dimmed as the intro music of The Beatles’ ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ announced Paul Weller and his band taking the stage for a breathtaking two and a half hour headlining set that would touch on all points, of his over four-decade long career. Weller has surrounded himself with a crack band for the tour featuring longtime sidemen Steve Cradock (guitar), Andy Crofts (bass), Steve Pilgrim (drums), and Ben Gordelier (percussion) as well as new addition Tom Van Heel (keys) and kicked things off with 2015’s ‘I’m Where I Should Be’, a song which encapsulated The Modfather’s confidence in still finding his place in today’s musical landscape and also echoed the sentiments of the thousand people in attendance cheering him on.”

Tour dates:

Sep 06 Red Bank NJ – Count Basie Center for the Arts

Sep 07 Brooklyn NY – Kings Theatre

Sep 08 Boston MA – House of Blues

Sep 10 Glenside PA – Keswick Theatre

Sep 11 Washington DC – Lincoln Theatre

Sep 13 Toronto ON – History

Sep 15 Chicago IL – Vic Theatre

Sep 16 Minneapolis MN – First Avenue

Sep 19 Seattle WA – The Moore

Sep 20 Vancouver BC – Vogue Theatre

Sep 22 San Francisco CA – The Fillmore

Sep 23 San Francisco CA – The Fillmore

Sep 25 El Cajon CA – The Magnolia

Sep 26 Anaheim CA – House of Blues

Sep 27 Los Angeles CA – Orpheum Theatre

Miki Berenyi Trio USA Tour 2024 Read More Lush I have mentioned this at various time, I was more of the Britpop-sounding Lush vs their early shoegazing beginning. That doesn't mean I don't occasional enjoy listening to Gala or Spooky …

Miki Berenyi
twitter.com/berenyi_miki

Known for her brightly dyed red hair and her dreamy, star-dusted pop songs, Miki Berenyi had an unmistakable presence as one of the founding members of Lush, one of the penultimate British shoegaze bands of the 80s and 90s. A few decades on from that band’s heyday, Berenyi is gearing up for a U.S. tour with her own band, which includes her romantic partner, “Moose” McKillop. (She also has an autobiography out now in the U.S., Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success, which was originally released in 2022 in the UK.) The trio treads familiar terrain as her previous bands (not including the Britpoppy interlude)—dreamy, sometimes dystopian pop with lots of crunchy, distorted guitars, all anchored by Berenyi’s ethereal vocals. The red locks may now be raven, but Berenyi and her band’s music still commands attention.

Lush (18 Sep 2016)

We saw Lush in 1994 and when they reunited for a few dates in Sep 2016 and wrote, “I was surprised just how great Lush sounded after all these years. Sure, I have complained a little when they sped up many of their songs for their live shows, but I understand that they have to keep it fresh. Again, while I privately enjoyed Lush’s music in the last 20 years by myself... it certainly felt weird to share the same love as all the other 1,400 fans at the show.”

MIKI BERENYI TRIO TOUR DATES

May 29 Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theatre

May 31 Mcgill, NV - Schellraiser Campground

Jun 01 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall**

Jun 03 Portland, OR - McMenamins Mission Theater**

Jun 04 Seattle, WA - Madame Lou's**

Jun 06 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater**

Jun 07 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge**

Jun 08 New York, NY - Webster Hall**

Aug 10 Margate, UK - Elsewhere

Aug 10 Brighton, UK - At The Edge of The Sea Festival

Sep 07 Birmingham, UK - The Hare & Hounds

**dates with Lol Tolhurst x Budgie

If your band is coming to the Minneapolis/St Paul area, please email details to [email protected] with a good lead time. Thank you.

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com ♥ bsky.ap

The Battle of the Lanky British Frontmen

03/22/24 The Kooks with The Vaccines and Daisy the Great at the Fox Theater The Kooks Setlist Seaside See the World Sofa Song Eddie's Gun Ooh La She Moves in Her Own Way Bad Habit Westside Forgive & Forget Closer Jackie Big Tits Always Where I Need to Be Do You Wanna Got No Love Matchbox Junk of the Heart (Happy) -- Encore -- Around Town Naïve Vaccines Setlist Love to Walk Away Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra) I Can't Quit Post Break-Up Sex Wetsuit Your Love Is My Favourite Band Discount de Kooning (Last One Standing) The Dreamer Headphones Baby Jump Off the Top Lunar Eclipse Handsome Heartbreak Kid Teenage Icon I Always Knew If You Wanna All My Friends Are Falling in Love Read More The Kooks The first time I saw The Kooks, it was in Chicago in 2007, and it was because their small tour did not include Minneapolis... which I noted that I saw three Minneapolis people in Chicago ... The Vaccines We love The Vaccines. The UK band will be back in the city at the Fine Line Music Café (now run by First Avenue) and will be playing some tracks from their fourth studio album Combat Sports. .…

The Vaccines and The Kooks
The Fox Theater
Oakland
March 22, 2024

It was the unofficial early aughts battle of the lanky British frontmen on Friday night at The Fox Theater in Oakland. In the realm of lithe indie singers, the UK indie music scene seems to have its pick of the litter—maybe the pallid skies and submerged emotions promote a Romantic sense of deprivation, from Jarvis Cocker to PJ Harvey and beyond. The Kooks and the Vaccines made plenty of headlines in UK music papers, but it was a much trickier task to conquer the States. Though their sound epitomized the period, they couldn’t quite dethrone American rock bands like the Strokes, whose glittery, post-punk rock vibes brought an indie rock revival that had kids running to the dancefloors and concert halls and dingy dive bars in equal measure.

The Kooks headlined the night, though their set felt a little less dynamic than the opening band. Their current tour is in support of their 2006 debut album, Inside In/Inside Out, which they re-released on its 15th anniversary in 2021 and faithfully recreated track by track. Singer Luke Pritchard came onto the darkly lit stage alone for the opening acoustic track, “Seaside,” a twangy, wistful pop ode. The band joined him right after, launching into nostalgia with straightforward tunes that were very of their time, pop-inflected bangers that hid in the shadow of bands like the Arctic Monkeys, whose own debut album greatly overshadowed the Kooks that year. Listening to the Kooks live, you might guess why. Their sound, though catchy and packed with melodies and hummable hits, also sounds a bit by-the-book, somewhat de-fanged.

With his blighty British twang backed by shimmering, stuttering guitars, singer Luke Pritchard can croon and wail at an impressive velocity, the chords packing a rock wallop behind him. The songs are rollicking, full of youthful exuberance and catchy hooks. Though not as layered or moody or as interesting as bands like the Strokes or Interpol, the band found a niche, and their fans loved them for it. With Pritchard bopping around, he exhorted the crowd beneath a dark mop of curls, as the band played faithful renditions of some pretty fun tunes. Less trenchant and preening than a Jarvis Cocker or a Julian Casablancas, say, and more feel-good and fleeting.

Some of my friends disputed the idea that The Vaccines would open for The Kooks. “It should’ve been the other way around,” they argued. Lead singer Justin Young strode confidently onto the stage to the Beatles’ “Live and Let Die,” armed with a more commanding back-catalog to work with, full of songs with more bite and bark. The band proceeded to deliver a charismatically rocking set. Formed in 2010, The Vaccines rode their own wave of accolades in the UK and somewhat in the U.S., with fans like Debbie Harry attending their shows. Songs like the moody, tongue-in-cheek “Post Break-Up Sex” and the boppier “Teenage Icon” have both singalong and caustic qualities, creating a kind of cultural bridge from ‘90s Britpop to the post-9/11 indie rock chaos that swept the musical landscape. With Young’s deep, bass-y vocals anchoring guitar hooks and pop licks, he carries just enough swagger to exhort and inspire. “All My Friends Are Falling in Love,” a single from 2018 (the band just released their most recent album last year), still slaps like an early aughts rock ode written by a long-lived, once-hopeful teenager in love. Oh, the spangly, spiky bloom of the jaded indie rockstar.

Vaccines at Fox Theater, Oakland (22 Mar 2024)

robin lapid ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com ♥ bsky.ap

Sleeper Website Back Online

Gorgeous and Fully Equipped on the iPad Read More Sleeper No one loves Sleeper as much as I do. I own all of Sleeper's singles and albums. Their second album was a slightly superior to their debut Smart album, even though all the singles leading up to the debut album was wonderful. ...

As you know, Google removed their Google Sites in 2021, so it took my Sleeper website offline... which included all the files I had hosted on Google. Of course, I had a backup of the website on my computer, but it wasn’t until recently that I’ve decided to put the website back online - thanks to iBrave Webhosting.

The original website is now back online at sleeper.weheartmusic.com. Since the website was built using Google’s tools (which I do not have access to), I may probably abandon updating the website (or perhaps just rebuild it based on my own codes).

Steve writes:

I've just discovered your page & I was wondering if you could help? No worries if not, it never hurts to ask. I noticed that many years ago you shared scans of some Sleeper fan zines - issues 1 to 3 of The IT Zine plus GORGEOUS AND FULLY EQUIPPED December 1984 and a copy from 1985. - weheartmusic.typepad.com/blog/louise-wener - I lost my copies many years ago & was hoping maybe you would be able to send me copies of what you have scanned as downloads, for my collection?

No worries if you are unable to help, I just thought it was worth asking.

Thanks for your time in reading this.

All the best
Steve

All the fanzines are located (and can be downloaded) at Fanzines section.

I’ve taken it one step further! Remember that Affinity software that I purchased for $99 in Nov 2022? Part of that suite includes Affinity Publishing, which is what I used to convert the images to a PDF file.

Clicking on the images below will download the PDF for each issue.

GORGEOUS AND FULLY EQUIPPED (Dec 1994) Indolent GORGEOUS AND FULLY EQUIPPED (1995) Indolent THE IT ZINE #1 (Aug 1996) Fanzine THE IT ZINE #2 (May 1997) Fanzine THE IT ZINE #3 (Jan 1998) Fanzine THE IT ZINE #4 (Unpublished) (1998) Fanzine

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com ♥ bsky.ap

Moby Richard

Moby at Gold Diggers, Los Angeles (29 Oct 2023) Read More Moby His latest single is "The Poison Tree", so he will be performing that song. The song is from Moby's 2011 Destroyed album. In the meantime, the double disc Destroyed Remixed album will be out May 1st (digital) and June 19th .…

MOBY
moby.com

Multi-platinum-selling, multi-award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, author, and animal rights activist, Moby is DJing for the first time since the pandemic to benefit “Vegans of LA Food Bank”, this October 29, 2023.

The event will take place at Gold Diggers, in Los Angeles, and joining Moby will be KCRW’s DJ Raul Campos.

And the best part is that Moby decided to make it affordable, stating, “In a world of excessively high ticket prices, I thought it would be nice to play for $5 and give all of the money to one of my favorite local charities.”

The first 50 tickets sold are guaranteed entry at $5, then there will be an RSVP waitlist of 300 once those go. All the details and purchasing instructions can be found here.

Moby (23 May 2016)

We saw Moby at his book signing in May 2016, and said, “For the reading, dressed on a warm evening in a t-shirt, hoodie and sport coat, Moby selected two passages from his early days about DJ-ing in the late ‘80s in sketchy NYC venues and living (squatting really) in an abandoned warehouse, aspiring to make it on the club scene. The third and last passage read, was from near the end of the book, detailing being dropped by his label, battling with alcohol, and coming to terms that his career as a musician might be at its end.”

Now Then: The Very Best of Richard Hawley Read More Longpigs I believe the Longpigs opened up for all the dates on this 1997 tour. Note that the poster misspelled the name as "Long Pigs". The British band was riding the coattails of Britpop in the mid-90s …

Richard Hawley
richardhawley.co.uk

BMG has announced their first ever career spanning collection of Richard Hawley’s works in a double LP color vinyl or double CD album or digital release, called Now Then: The Very Best of Richard Hawley. The collection will come out October 20th, 2023.

For those not familiar with Hawley, he started his career in The Longpigs, and then joining Pulp as their guitarist.

He’s worked with everyone, from the Arctic Monkeys to the Manic Street Preachers to Paul Weller, and so on. His song “Tonight The Streets Are Ours” was featured in The Simpsons, and recently, his music have appeared in Peaky Blinders and The Full Monty, as well as the hugely acclaimed and award-winning musical named after his 2012 album, Standing At The Sky’s Edge, and Wes Anderson’s 2023 film Asteroid City.

PS, I have seen Longpigs in 1997, but have no memory of it.

2CD Tracklisting:

CD 1 1. Open Up Your Door 2. Midnight Train 3. Tonight the Streets Are Ours 4. Coles Corner 5. Ballad of a Thin Man (Full Version) 6. Baby, You're My Light 7. She Brings The Sunlight 8. Not The Only Road {unreleased} 9. Which Way 10. My Little Treasures 11. Naked In Pitsmoor 12. Standing At the Sky's Edge 13. Long Black Train 14. Heart of Oak 15. You Don't Miss Your Water (Till Your River Runs Dry) 16. The Ocean

CD 2 1. Don't Stare at the Sun 2. I Still Want You 3. Off My Mind 4. For Your Lover Give Some Time 5. Just Like The Rain 6. I’m On Nights 7. Seek It 8. Serious 9. Precious Sight 10. Remorse Code 11. Alone 12. Born Under a Bad Sign 13. Our Darkness 14. Run For Me 15. Coming Home 16. There's a Storm a'Comin'

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com