Garbage, October 2 at the Palladium

For a while it was easy to forget that I'm a huge Garbage fan.  They went away and even the fans they had left doubted they'd even get back together, or if it would even be a big deal if they did anyway.  But they did, maybe a bit too far ahead of a '90s revival, though probably instead to prove that they're not just a nostalgia act.  They came back with a new album, Not Your Kind of People, that proved that they could be as vital as ever, even if the trends have moved on and tried to leave them behind.  They played the El Rey earlier in the year ahead of this tour, which would have been a great venue to see them in, but it was one of the few times I've passed on getting tickets due to watching my money (though I still made an attempt, just didn't get in).  I thought I might get a chance later.  So they played the Palladium, where I've seen them before, but this was a different place in time (as well as the Palladium being essentially a new place).  It was a good size for them, though I doubt it sold out.  They may be past their days of filling the Wiltern (where the show was set for originally) but their stuff just sounds better in a medium-size venue -- not too big that nuance is lost, not so small that the sounds bursts the edges.  And they sounded great, as well as they did years ago.  At this point they're worn from being on the road or just due to age so they're not as jumpy as they might have been (well, Shirley at least, since the rest of the guys were already fairly old (for a rock band) when they started), but they wear being elder statesmen well, and they've earned the years on them.  Shirley still acts the part of the she-demon (maybe one of the last times she'll have credibility doing so (unless she just gives in to being immortal)) and at one point skipped all around the stage, showing the comfort she's finally come into but maybe betraying the coy, sultry vixen she was in their earliest years.  They leaned toward the new album, maybe too much since that material hadn't really connected, but the crowd was fanatic enough to go along with it until they got to a classic track.  They avoided anything but one track from Beautiful and only a token few from Bleed Like Me (much to my dismay) so they tried to make the new stuff stick, especially in the encore, but also kept in mind where their bread is buttered with the old stuff.  At one point in the encore they seemed lost for a particular direction and seemed to have space for an extra song so Shirley put out a call for a fan request.  Immediately I was screaming "Subhuman" (their first single, even before "Vow", a super-obscurity that would probably stump anyone there, maybe even including the band, something they've played only once since 1996 and that I've never heard live but would surely sound awesome), but some young chick in front called out "Man on Wire", a new B-side, which seemed like a plant as well as a missed opportunity.  Maybe I should have went with their cover of "Thirteen", as that would probably have been Carla's pick.  Carla only knew the band casually back in the day so that left me to be the crazed fanatic, jumping around and screaming like I did in my early-20s at one of their early shows when we'd be pushed up in the pit.  I let it take me over, and it took me back to another place and those moments I've spent when that music has meant so much to me.  They didn't stay out on the road as long as they usually do but that show was more than sufficient.  They could have just played "Vow" and that would have been enough for me.  As usual they kept pushing and overcoming expectations.  They still have that magic to remind me what a fan I am.

Screaming Females opened but we missed them.


Garbage's set-list:
"Time Will Destroy Everything" (intro)
"Automatic Systematic Habit"
"I Think I'm Paranoid"
"Shut Your Mouth"
"Why Do You Love Me"
"Queer"
"Stupid Girl"
"Hammering in My Head"
"Control"
"#1 Crush" ("Erotica" intro)
"Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)"
"Blood for Poppies"
"Special" (Shirley sings a few lines from the Pretenders' "Kid" at end)
"The Trick Is to Keep Breathing"
"Battle in Me"
"Push It"
"Only Happy When It Rains"
"Vow"

"I Hate Love"
"The One"
"Man on a Wire"
"You Look So Fine"