Miki Berenyi of Lush and Piroshka wrapped her first solo tour on Saturday night at Webster Hall. The trek was with the gothy duo of drumming legends Lol Tolhurst (ex The Cure) and Budgie (ex Siouxsie & The Banshees). Photos by P Squared of the whole night are in this post.
This was a slight variation on her Miki Berenyi Trio as guitarist and partner K.J. “Moose” McKillop doesn’t fly, so bassist Oliver Cherer switched to guitar and old friend and Piroshka bandmate Mick Conroy (also of Modern English) was drafted for bass duties. No drummer in the trio, so beats were programmed, which discofied a few old favorites. Miki played a nice mix of Lush classics (“Leaves Me Cold,” “Kiss Chase,” “Ladykillers,” more) and Piroshka songs (they never toured here). Plus we got loads of new songs, including MB3 single “Vertigo,” and all the new stuff sounded good. Album announcement soon?
After “Ladykillers,” which had the whole crowd singing along, Miki told the crowd that they don’t do encores but we could consider these last two songs that. They covered Moose’s debut single, “Suzanne,” which Miki noted was “the fucking original shoegaze song.” (She also said she’s going to make Moose come for the next tour even if she has to sedate him. Her stage banter was hilarious.) Then, as a first on the tour, they brought out Lol and Budgie to play on early Lush song “Baby Talk.” You would think with a group featuring two drummers and no singers, and then a group with no drummer, they would’ve tried this earlier on the tour, but I’m glad we got it Saturday night. Video of that and more is below.
As for Lol Tolhurst x Budgie, they played songs off last year’s Los Angeles album, which features tons of guest vocalists, none of whom were there at this show. I was genuinely expecting James Murphy, who sings the album’s title track and lives three subway stops away in Williamsburg, to show up, but no. Budgie had endless enthusiasm and seemed to be thrilled to be playing, but two drummers playing to backing tracks and AI-made projections left something to be desired. They did cover The Cure’s “A Forest” with Lol playing synth and bringing out a bassist for one of the best bass lines of the ’80s.
Miki is still in NYC for two book events for her memoir, Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success. She’ll be at powerHouse Arena on June 11 for a Q&A with WFMU’s Mona Dehghan, and Rough Trade on June 12 for a Q&A with SONOS Radio’s Elia Einhorn.
SETLIST: Miki Berenyi Trio @ Webster Hall 6/8/2024
Stray (Lush)
Leaves Me Cold (Lush)
Hurricane
Vertigo
Covert (Lush)
V.O. (Piroshka)
Love at First Sight (The Gist)
Gango
Kiss Chase (Lush)
8th Deadly Sin
Kinch
Light From a Dead Star (Lush)
Ubique
For Love (Lush)
Everlastingly Yours (Piroshka)
Big I Am
Ladykillers (Lush)
Suzanne (Moose)
Baby Talk (Lush) with Budgie and Lol Tolhurst