So it all started on a lazy afternoon back in
1995 when a friend happened to pass on a Garbage CD to me. Being a bit
apprehensive about the band's name, I borrowed the CD reposing my faith in the
fact that Butch Vig was the band member. (Butch being the producer of the
Nirvana album Nevermind). So I heard Garbage's eponymously titled debut record
and Shirley Manson's vocals just made me sit up and take notice. And the album
had such great tracks that I was compelled
to follow this band's offerings for the
next decade. In 2005 the band went on an indefinite hiatus.
After a long gap of seven years, when Garbage
launched their fifth studio album Not Your Kind of People, a
supporting tour was inevitable. After all, fans all over would be more than
keen to see Garbage "reunite". Garbage had not played a live concert
since 2005 (discounting the one-off concert in 2007) and for the Asia leg of
this tour, they were playing in Singapore! Couldn't get more exciting than
this.
The concert day...and it rained a bit in the
afternoon. Was it some kind of sign that today was the day best suited to hear "Only
Happy When It Rains" live?
Fort Canning Park as the venue, and the 3,000-strong
crowd was mostly older but the decibel levels for audience reaction were
still quite impressive.
As Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker
descended upon the stage and cranked up the drums and guitars, Shirley Manson
looked as ravishing as I had envisioned her to be. They launched into their
first number with the grungy Supervixen. This was followed by power-packed
performances of Paranoid, Shut Your Mouth and Metal Heart. And
this where I realised, no they have not lost their touch, not even by an ounce.
Not that I am complaining, but I kind of expected one of their greatest hits Stupid
Girl to be played later on. But Garbage can afford to do this due to their
impressive back catalogue. The applause after this track was as expected: Loud.
Shirley struck the right chord with the
audience by confessing that the first time Garbage played here was in 1996 and
that was the first time they felt like they were rock stars!
The trip hop Queer, the rocking Why Do
You Love Me? and Control (from their newest album), which is vintage
Garbage, kept the audience busy. Soon after, Shirley sang Madonna's Erotica
chorus before progressing into the gloomy #1 Crush. Cherry Lips
raised the tempo as the crowd chanted Go Baby Go.
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The newer offerings were wisely interspersed with
older material to keep the audience engaged. The songs from the new album were
quite impressive. And as Shirley described this album to be seen as a
"declaration of love" that brought the band back together.
Blood for Poppies, the lead single from the new album was played
to a warm reception. I couldn't help but notice that the "oh oh oh"
bit is somewhat redolent of Laura
Branigan's 80's hit song "Self Control". This was followed by the
popular track Special from 1998's Version 2.0 and Big Bright World
from the new album.
Milk, a dark and haunting classic was followed by the new track Battle
In Me. With its effective stop-start
riffs, this new song evoked memories of Garbage's early works.
The critically acclaimed Push It and Only
Happy When It Rains had the crowd going literally crazy.
The three song encore comprised synth-heavy
uptempo Automatic Systematic Habit, the ballad Not Your Kind of
People, both from the 2012 album and the superb Vow, which is the
band's debut single, way back from '95.
Flame-haired Scottish siren Shirley Manson was
a bundle of energy as she strutted, prowled and gyrated on the stage. Not to
forget her remarkable vocals. The band delivered a top-notch performance of 20
songs, devoid of any gimmicks and retained the alt rocker aura.
This evening Garbage smelt sweet and how!
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