Garbage is currently touring in support of their recent critically acclaimed sixth studio album
Strange Little Birds (STUNVOLUME Records). The much-beloved band stopped by the Skyway Theatre in Minneapolis on July 7th - their second US show of the new 2016 tour.
Kristin Kontrol
|
Opening the show was the very talented Dee Dee (from the
Dum Dum Girls) with her latest music project
Kristin Kontrol; their debut album is out now called
X-Communicate (out now on Sub Pop Records).
One of the best things about live shows is you get to see how the band performs and sometimes hear some good stories. Dee Dee Stands in front of the mike and looks around at the crowd and tells her story about how when she was a young girl she loved listening to Garbage, she is so excited to be on tour with the band. Fun fact, according to Dee Dee, her first concert, 20 years ago, was seeing Garbage. The other exciting thing when your debuting a new record
X-Communicate, and that is all you got, you get to play it and the band was up to the task.
The conversations I had with a few people who knew about the Dum Dum Girls were excited to see and hear how she would sound without the other members. I can testify that from the beginning of the set to the finish she sounded wonderful.
Kristin Voice has a dreamlike way of getting to you as you listen and even with the dance tunes you get that vibe that you're in the clouds. Highlights from the set was ‘Show Me’ and the title track ‘X-Communicate’.
 Shirley Manson
|
We welcome back this wonderful band
Garbage (Shirley Manson, Steve Marker, Duke Erikson, and Butch Vig) to Minneapolis. The band showcased some songs from their sixth studio album
Strange Little Birds, On the STUNVOLUME Records label. I am so overjoyed to see that this record debut at number 1 on the Rock and Alternative Charts.
Anticipation begins waiting for the show to start, people are crowding in, to get a better vantage point. I do want to say that the Skyway Theatre is a wonderful Venue for a good view because the way it is set up (in a long rolling slope), there are no bad spots.
I had a chance to listen to the new record about a week ago, there are some amazing gems to be found on it, so I talked to some people before the show about what they were most interested in hearing from the band, most were just happy to have Garbage back in town, very few had a chance to listen to the record.
The running story that you hear every time they come to town is that First Avenue was one of their very first gig's, so Minneapolis/ St Paul have some of the oldest fans in the country. Case in point, after ‘Automatic Systematic Habit’, singer Shirley Manson reflect on their first night with one of their biggest fan, Reeva - who had turned 13 years old and stood in a very long line waiting to Garbage’s first ever live show.
Garbage comes out and right off the bat you can feel the energy just kind of explode around you, Shirley has a great commanding voice you have to be enthralled by. The start the show with the first song off the record, that to me is a statement of what do you think of this, I was impressed with their overall sound and the way they moved between songs, Shirley as we all know is very opinionated and rightly so, if you listen to many of her lyrics they are statements about something she feels is important.
Whenever there were technical difficulties, Shirley had to talk to the audience, to distract us while they fix the problem. Sometime, she’ll just talk about social media. She’s very knowledgeable when it comes to the news and politics, stating “Call it complaining rant or angry whatnot. I know I have a good life, but I also see so many suffering in the world. So many people robbed rights... and a month ago when Orlando [shooting] happened, it has made me to stand up with the LGBT community!”
Although Shirley stayed as a dedicated singer (and dancer), she did pick up an additional rhythm guitar to help add an extra sound to their song ‘My Lover’s Box’.
Setlist
|
Some highlights: I'll start with ‘Stupid Girl’ got the crowd dancers dancing. ‘Bleed like Me’ is one of their best songs, and it is the song that, according to Shirley, is the one that determine if you were a “real Garbage fan”. Of course, ‘Only Happy When It Rains’ got the sing along crowd involved.
I was hoping for a couple of songs from the new record and one song from
Bleed Like Me that is perhaps my favorite. I got my reward in the encore ‘Why Do You Love Me’ is my danceteria song and ‘Even Though Our Love Is Doomed’, I believe is the best heart-to-heart song on the record ... just beautiful.
Note: Butch Vig was not present, due to being sick, and Matt Walker of Smashing Pumpkins, Morrissey..... took his place, for the time, being and did an outstanding job. I want to say if you have never seen Garbage, go you will not be disappointed, one other note if you want to hear Shirley talk about what's going on take a look over at the Current 89.3 Shirley took over the airwaves right before the show at the Skyway.
)
Recent Comments