Garbage at Mill City Nights, Minneapolis (04/05/13)

Setlist Tour Dates 04/06/13 Milwaukee, WI Eagles Ballroom 04/07/13 Madison, WI Orpheum Theater 04/09/13 St. Louis, MO The Pageant 04/10/13 Kansas City, MO Harrah's North Kansas 04/12/13 Las Vegas, NV Pearl Concert Theater Read More Garbage One of the most famous female-fronted bands from the 90s is Garbage, lead by Scottish singer Shirley Manson. I first discovered her through a short-lived band called Angelfish, which you can read about here.…

Garbage stopped by Minneapolis at Mill City Nights last night, April 5th, as part of their "Not Your Kind of People Tour". The band was last here in 2008, so there were a lot of eager fans (old and new) at the show.

DJing before and in-between sets was DJ Jake Rudh. I never saw the DJ, but I am assuming he was the person who programmed all the 80s music videos. Lots of early Cure, Joy Division, Curve, Depeche Mode, etc. I love the music from that era, but it may have been lost on the younger crowd (or non-80s alternative fans).

IO ECHO

Opening up the show was IO Echo, from Los Angeles. I'd previously mentioned the band, so it was nice to finally see them live. They had a nice Japanese-inspired stage setup, the majority of their set was done in darkness with a low blue backlight (with occasional strobes), and so photographing the band was impossible.

I like what I heard from the band, they sounded very 90s to me. They played some songs off their recent album, Ministry of Love (released this week April 2nd via IAmSound), including "Tiananmen Square (Monsters)", the title track, "Ministry of Love", and their set closer "When the Lillies Die".

Other songs I noted were "Ecstasy Ghost", "Doorway", and "I'm On Fire". The latter is taken from a horror movie soundtrack.

As for Garbage, please refer to their setlist photograph to see what songs were played. I'll try and fill in what's missing.

After playing a handful of new songs from Not Your Kind of People, singer Shirley Manson joked about what "an incredible old band" they were. After they recorded the new record, they really didn't know what to do with it. So it's the old way, properly promoting the record, going on tour, meeting fans, and, in her words, "having fun again".

As for Minneapolis, there's a funny story about it. "Minneapolis is our 17 tour anniversary," Manson said on stage (referring to the fact that their very first live concert was in 1995 at the 7th Street Entry). She continued on to tell the story of how they'd sold out the venue and that "we cannot f**** this up, we cannot f**** this up!" They were so nervous, not really sure how Garbage would unfold that night. So, in a sentence, "Minneapolis holds a special place in our hearts."

They looked and sounded great.

Live, the band is in top form. They looked and sounded great. Bassist Duke Erikson and guitarist Steve Marker both must have worked on their rock n roll moves. They were working just as hard, even though all eyes were on the beautiful Shirley Manson. It was hard to see Butch Vig, who spent the entire show behind the drums. There was also an additional guitarist, who played in the back near Vig.

Of course, it was a sing-along whenever Garbage played their hits ("Queer", "Only Happy When It Rains", "Vow", etc). Encore included a wonderful "Push It" (this was my favorite of the night), "Stupid Girl", "You Look So Fine", and a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams".

Sure, Garbage isn't as 'angry' as they used to be, but they certainly are outspoken. At one point in the show, Manson asked some big guys in the front to make a little room for the tiny girls trying to watch the show. "Give them a little space is all I'm asking." This does bring up some concert-going etiquettes: tall/big people, please let smaller people in front of you.

Garbage is currently on tour in support of their Not Your Kind of People album. Be sure to see them on tour.

Garbage at Mill City Nights, Minneapolis (04/05/13)

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ ioechomusic.com ♥ garbage.com