Tag: Garbage

Top 30 Concerts of 2018: #’s 30 – 26

I saw a lot of bands in 2018. Making a list of the top 30 acts was a challenge, but here goes.

#30: Golden Dawn Arkestra at Levitation Austin – They played a wild, incense-heavy set to a fun home crowd at Cheer Up Charlie’s. They never disappoint.

#29: The Soft Moon at Levitation France – It had been a while since I’d seen the Soft Moon in concert, and seeing them at Levitation Austin was a treat. The crowd was psyched for them, and the Soft Moon fed on that energy.

#28: Simple Minds at Detroit’s Fillmore Theatre – This show was better than I hoped it would be. They played two solid sets and covered a lot of good choices from their forty-year catalogue.

#27: Garbage at Paris’ Bataclan – The Bataclan was a lot smaller than I had envisioned, so that made this set by Garage more intimate, louder, and a great time.

#26: Windhand at Chicago’s Subterranean – I’d seen Windhand earlier in the year at Levitation Austin, but not their full set. This full set in a small Chicago dive bar was so heavy that it threatened to open a black hole in the room.

Tune in tomorrow to see who made the top 25!

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Garbage and Dream Wife – September 20, 2018 – Paris, France

My wife and I were delighted to learn that Garbage would be playing in Paris while we were on vacation there.  I was surprised we managed to score tickets at face value, and even more surprised by the intimacy of the venue – the Bataclan. I expected a much bigger place, but the small size made the show louder, closer, and better.

Openers Dream Wife put down a raucous set of garage punk about subjects like female empowerment and ending gender bias.  The people tending their merch table were having a great time all night.

Garbage came out to a lively crowd and were soon tearing through hits from their second album, Garbage 2.0.  It was the 20th anniversary tour of the record, so you had to expect it.  They played other hits, of course, and lead singer Shirley Manson had the crowd in her hands within moments of the first notes she sang.

They tore through tracks like “Deadwood,” “Wicked Ways” (which included parts of Depeche Mode‘s “Personal Jesus”), and “The World Is Not Enough” – the Bond theme they did from the movie of the same name back in 1999.  Other highlights included “Medication,” with Manson telling the story of how she had to deal with health care in the U.S. after nearing dying of flu while on tour, “I Think I’m Paranoid,” “Sleep Together,” “Dumb,” and “Push It.”

They closed with “The Trick Is to Keep Breathing,” a new song called “No Horses” (which Manson said is about an environmental apocalypse), and “Cherry Lips” (which Manson said has become the Garbage concert anthem).

It was a fun show with an appreciative crowd.  You can’t ask for much more than that.

Keep your mind open.

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