Four out of five members of alt-rock titans Garbage may be American, but tonight is still firmly a hometown show. “My name is Shirley fucking Manson and I’ve sung in this hall since I was 10 years old,” their ever-iconic, Edinburgh-born frontperson proclaims to the sold-out audience. “And I’m soon to turn 58, so you can all suck it!”
If the vibe is confrontational, it’s gleefully so. Weaving between her black-clad bandmates, Manson stalks the stage with gravitas garnered from more than three decades onstage. During the high drama opener, Romeo + Juliet soundtrack classic #1 Crush, she’s resolutely stoic and grounded in pink taffeta dress and neon green leggings. During 90s hits including I Think I’m Paranoid and Special, she drags the mic stand behind her, approaching the audience with taunting daring. The conviction of her rock star persona is only broken a few songs in when she leads the audience in a rendition of Happy Birthday for her sister, one of a number of loved ones present tonight.
The stage backdrop of gothic statues lit up in neon pink and UV lights serves as a perfect analogy for the band’s live sound: still slick and candy-coloured like their records, but with a surprisingly heavy industrial sensibility. 1998 single Push It and more recent songs such as Godhead and No Gods No Masters are reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails’ muscular club music – largely thanks to the combination of electronic beats and drummer/producer Butch Vig’s hefty live drum sound. Even their most shiny pop moment – cult 2002 hit Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!) – feels transformed.
Manson is a consistently captivating frontperson, but the other members – Vig, guitarists Duke Erikson and Steve Marker, and touring bassist Ginger Pooley – never feel like backing musicians. Garbage feels like a gang, with Manson approaching the other members to spar with or (literally) lean on throughout the set. Before she lounges over the drum riser to sing a torch song intro to Only Happy When It Rains, Vig borrows Manson’s mic to announce that the band’s eighth album is almost ready. “We’ve been married to Shirley Manson for 30 years,” he jokes on behalf of his bandmates. With tonight’s compelling, dynamic set, it feels like they’ve cracked the secret to long-term wedded bliss.
