Miki Berenyi Brings Lush Sounds to Mississippi Studios, October 25, 2025
The Miki Berenyi Trio (MB3) visited Portland and played an exceedingly crowd pleasing set filled with material spanning both their current effort, Tripla, as well as Berenyi’s former band, 90s shoegaze and dream pop pioneers, Lush. The group, comprised of Berenyi on guitars and vocals, her partner, KJ ‘Moose’ McKillop, on guitar, and Oliver Cherer on bass created an atmosphere bathed in the soundscapes of dream pop, namely, reverb swells, overdriven guitars, and warm chorus tones.
Gina Burch and the Unreasonables opened the show with songs from her record Trouble. Burch, founding member of the UK punk band, The Raincoats, started her set with “Rage”, a slow churning mantra seemingly echoing the sentiments of her audience. Projected images of women and names of female musicians, artists, and authors flashed behind Burch and her group who were briefly joined by MB3 members as they ended their set with the title track from Trouble.
Later, MB3 began their set with “Doldrum Days” whose light and cascading vocals recall peak Lush atmospherics. The trio also added Lush tracks like “Light from a Dead Star”and “Undertow” from 1994’s Split. The evening concluded with a triumphant rendition of Lush’ classic “Ladykillers” from 1996’s tour de force album Lovelife.
Bereyni has stated publicly that this will be MB3’s last outing in North America due the financial risks associated with touring abroad. Audiences fortunate enough to have seen Lush live were treated to a unique sound that defined a genre of music for a generation. MB3’s performance was an extension of and tribute to Lush’s grandeur. This last Portland show provided a fitting end to a remarkable career.
