Valentine’s Day landed on a Saturday, which felt like an invitation. We spent it at The Burlington on a four-band benefit bill for CAF, with Ghost Days, Violet Waves and June Doom.

Someone had taped paper hearts across the back wall before doors — red ones, pink ones, a couple that had clearly been cut out in a hurry. It is a small thing, but it changed the room. There is something funny about playing songs that are mostly about heartbreak in front of a wall of construction-paper love, and the crowd got the joke immediately.

The bill

Benefit shows are usually the best-sounding nights on a calendar, because nobody is there to be seen. Ghost Days opened it up, Violet Waves and June Doom filled the middle, and by the time we loaded on the room was already warm.

The door was $11.33, which is the kind of oddly specific number that only exists because someone did the maths on fees and refused to round up. We like that.

What we played

Mostly the newer stuff, heavy on reverb, and we let the long tails run longer than we normally would. A room with that much soft material on the walls swallows the top end, so we leaned into the low mids and let the guitars sit on top of each other.

Plush Crush is about facing how crushing life can be, and finding the silver linings that give you somewhere soft to land.

That is the whole idea behind the name, and a benefit show on Valentine’s Day is about as close as it gets to the thesis.

Thank you

To everyone who came out on a night when they had other options, to the other three bands, and to whoever brought the hearts — thank you. We will be back at The Burlington.

Photos from the night are in the gallery. If you want us on a benefit bill, the booking form is the fastest route.