Shirley and Butch. Photo courtesy of Nathan Malone.
Last week I got to attend the sold-out Garbage concert at La Zona Rosa. They were supposed to play this Spring for Record Store Day but co-founder Duke had a personal emergency causing them to reschedule. Lucky me because I pounced on the opportunity for a new run of tickets this Summer.
Yes, yes, they’re still together. A common refrain I hear. Let me give a quick history. After their fourth album 2005’s Bleed Like Me, a rather mediocre record, especially after the high standards they set with the first two, the quartet took a few years off. Maybe they’d reunite or call it quits. I think they all knew things were getting stale. My hopes were high with the single “Tell Me Where It Hurts” for the obligatory greatest hits compilation around 2007; the band got its mojo back. Alas, a new album remained on hiatus until this Spring mostly due to Shirley getting acting gigs, remember the short-lived Terminator prequel show on Fox?
How were they in concert? Spot on. I saw them in 1998 during the Version 2.0 days. Musically it was great despite almost getting my ribs broken by a flock of assholes. Now those same assholes are approaching middle age like me so they were less rowdy. Too bad they’ve become 10 times ruder through their cell phones glaring all night, recording and/or constantly taking pictures. Now the nice gentleman who gave me permission for what I have up there appears to have had some manners and restraint, the bulk of what he took appears pretty concentrated during a couple numbers and the encore. More can be seen on his Flickr page.
I want to return to how Garbage remains a good live act.
Shirley has maintained her stage presence, the audience was entranced. Butch, Steve and Duke continue to be great musicians. Steve and Duke impressively juggle playing their guitars with keyboard setups. Eric (Avery) was there too as the bassist. They performed a nice mix of the new stuff with their hits. I was surprised they didn’t do “Beloved Freak” since I think it’s a current or upcoming single after “Blood for Poppies.” Someone posted the setlist here. I agree with it. They continue to rock the house with live versions of “Only Happy When it Rains” and “Push It.” I’m only bummed over “Temptation Waits” and/or “When I Grow Up” being missing.
Opening for Garbage was Screaming Females. Definitely more than the group’s name. The lead singer’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard. They join my short list of really awful bands I hope I never see again: Frente, the Murmurs and Eight Seconds. Maybe I’ll be wrong and they’ll evolve into PJ Harvey when she made good records such as To Bring You My Love and Tales From the City, Tales From the Sea.
I wish I could recommend catching Garbage on tour but Austin was the finale on their North American swing. Currently they’re in South America rocking below the equator. Meanwhile, check out the new album or reminisce with Garbage and Version 2.0. Play the other tracks that 101X doesn’t play every few hours between the same Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and Soundgarden songs.
Thanks for the review, Steve.
I loved Garbage’s first two albums start to finish, and I still can’t listen to “Cup of Coffee” from their Beautiful Garbage album without breaking into tears (what a wonderful delivery of amazing lyrics through a masterful marriage of Manson’s voice and that disjointed Garbage instrumentation). I found the Bleed Like Me album satisfying, too, if not quite as distinctive as their earlier work. And I saw the group in concert once in Florida, where they opened for Gwen Stefani. (I didn’t stay all the way through Stefani’s set–went there to see Garbage!)
As a fan, though, I’m thoroughly disheartened by Not Your Kind of People. In my opinion, with this album the group has gone from “three producers and a girl” to “a girl with three producers.” Not Your Kind of People strikes me as just a sort of Angelfish 2012. Not that I hate Angelfish–I own the album and listen to it from time to time when in a Pop mood–but it’s not Garbage.
I recall Manson saying in an interview after the first Garbage album, “Nobody can sing this shit!” Ever since, the group has been veering from the distinctive discarded sounds that originally gave Vig the idea, and ever more toward pure Pop. As you can probably tell, then, Not Your Kind of People is not my kind of music, not my memory of classic Garbage.