Cover photo by Stephanie F. Black
Last night at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Miki Berenyi (of dreampop legends Lush) returned to NYC with her Miki Berenyi Trio (MB3) in full for the first time, convincing her airplane-averse partner KJ “Moose” McKillop (also of their Britpop/shoegaze/post-punk supergroup Piroshka & the namesake/spectral guitarist of fantastic, but under-appreciated ‘90s London shoegaze pioneer band Moose) to play in the U.S. for the 1st time in 31 years (when Big Takeover founder Jack Rabid saw Moose open for Cocteau Twins & Luna), to join her and dynamic bassist/backing vocalist Oliver Cherer, who filled in for McKillop in June 2024 when MB3 played Webster Hall, to play the entirety of excellent debut LP Tripla, six Lush songs, and some non-LP singles, including closer “Stranger”, a great gothy collab with The Cure founding member Lol Tolhurst (who opened for MB3 on the previous U.S. tour) and his son Gray Tolhurst.
The sound mix was much improved this time; the live guitar interplay between McKillop’s reverbed hanging arpeggios & Berenyi’s 12-string gliding chords is a marriage made in dreampop heaven, bringing new wonderful texture to swirling Lush beauties “Stray”, “Leaves Me Cold”, “Light from a Dead Star”, and “Undertow” and Britpop hit “Ladykillers”. The new tunes, which MB3 members write individually and develop as a band through gigging before recording, were equally compelling, with Berenyi’s luscious “Kinch” and spooky “Hurricane”, McKillop’s soundscape marches “8th Deadly Sin”, “Manu”, and chiming “Different Girl”, and Cherer’s sweepingly sad “Doledrum Days” and burbling slow dance “Vertigo” showcasing the artistic breadth of this trio, with Berenyi’s ethereal coo providing the celestial thread throughout.
Unfortunately for North American fans, this will be the final MB3 tour here, due to the extreme increase in expense and complexity of obtaining U.S. artist visas under the current administration, which Berenyi called a “nightmare… like trying to gain entry to [J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings dark realm] Mordor!” (Slide Away Festival, please add MB3 to the upcoming 2026 lineup while she still has a visa!). Without a doubt, I will have to plan future London trips around Miki Berenyi Trio gigs!
Post-punk pioneer Gina Birch, who in 1977 co-founded proto-riot rrrrl band The Raincoats (a noted influence of Kurt Cobain for Nirvana), opened for her first night on the tour, but without her band The Unreasonables, who were unfortunately unable to get their U.S. artist visas approved, so she proceeded DIY-style like the art school student she once was, backed by her laptop for three songs (including “I am Rage”) from her 2023 LP I Play My Bass Loud and three from her fiery & dubby new Youth (AKA Martin Glover, Killing Joke founding member)-produced Third Man Records LP Trouble (including “Train Platform”, about a first kiss with her now-husband 40 years ago at the Baker Street Tube, and “Happiness”, with projections of her 1977 art film 3 Minute Scream and the full screening of the video for single “Causing Trouble Again” starring fellow Raincoat Ana da Silva, singer-songwriter Amy Rigby, X-Ray Spex co-founder Lora Logic and many other groundbreaking women artists. Hope to experience the full Gina Birch & The Unreasonables next time!
Miki Berenyi Trio Setlist
Doldrum Days
Hurricane
A Different Girl
Undertow (Lush song)
Leaves Me Cold (Lush song)
Gango
Kinch
Manu
8th Deadly Sin
Vertigo
For Love (Lush song)
Ubique
Big I Am
Ladykillers (Lush song)
Stray (Lush song)
Light From a Dead Star (Lush song)
Stranger
