Blondie/Garbage/Sky Ferreira, July 9, 2017 at the Hollywood Bowl

It's taken me years to come to the harsh realization that Garbage never got as far as they deserved, that they never played the very biggest venues and even occasionally were still an opening band, but it was still a surprise and perplexing that they never played the Hollywood Bowl. Maybe they could have pulled off headlining it back in the day, but especially now they had to be part of a shared bill, especially when they were still moving forward instead of chasing some '90s nostalgia thing that never hit as hard as the' 80s thing did (for better or worse). Putting Blondie on that bill might have split the difference between the two eras, but it was still two bands that made for a great show, even if a person weren't obsessed by one of those groups. There was never much reason to go out of the way to see Blondie, especially when they hadn’t shown up on festival line-ups, but they're probably a bucket-list band. But really, they were just extra frosting for seeing Garbage. Garbage by this point had probably gotten around to every venue in L.A. (if not the world, the tour dogs that they are), but playing the Bowl isn't usually about the size of the crowd that place can pull but connecting to the history, majesty, and notoriety of the most noteworthy performing space in the city, if not the world. Garbage probably appreciated that, at least, if not for the fact that they still had the pull to make it there, even if they weren't heading the bill. It's always a place threatening to envelop whoever's on stage but Garbage could trot out their hits and hold their own. We even got a song I didn’t know yet (the opener, a single, noting how they weren’t touring on a new album for this show). It might have been just another tour stop for Blondie (the band, not just Debbie Harry (as some radio DJs haven’t even gotten right)), who out-veteraned Garbage, and maybe they had even played the Bowl before, back in their heyday, but they still held up a good show, strolling through their hits while having the confidence in their new stuff (off Pollinator; not strong enough to continue their string of having a #1 hit in multiple decades) to play it alongside. It might have been inconsistent but with as many noteworthy songs as they have, there's only so much they can do in a tour through their history. “Hanging on the Telephone” was probably a gimme, though welcome (as my main reason to see them, even if it was just them), and they didn't bother giving it a lead-up by playing it early in the set, but they had enough other, more-recognizable songs, even if those weren't necessarily better. “Dreaming” wasn't a big hit, yet they left it to the end, a bit of a mellow lead out, but we left before it (during “Heart of Glass”), on a more spirited note (and just wanting to beat the exiting crowd). “Voices Carry” might be one of the most perfectly-recorded songs ever committed to tape, a song so exquisite that covering it should be a perilous risk, but Sky Ferreira (there without a recent release, probably just to pop up to play the Bowl) did her best to make it work. In a live setting its performed imperfections could be overlooked, as well as the guarded admiration in making the attempt, but as part of a set that didn't need to stick by an opener, and who we just happened to see when going in early after our picnic with Jen (who I arrived with, taking the shuttle over from Lankershim), Vanessa, Dave, Liz, and Liz’s family outside, it amounted to a novelty, albeit pleasant, for a nice evening at the Bowl with some rock from the eras.

Blondie’s set-list:
“One Way or Another“
“Hanging on the Telephone“ (The Nerves cover)
“Fun“
“Call Me“
“Rapture“
“Rainy Day Women #12 & 35“ (Bob Dylan cover)
“Fragments“ (An Unkindness cover)
“Long Time“
“Atomic“
“Too Much“
“Heart of Glass“
“Union City Blue“
“Dreaming“

Garbage’s set-list:
“No Horses“
“Queer“
“#1 Crush“
“Empty“
“I Think I'm Paranoid““
“Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)
“Special“
“Cup of Coffee“ (with Inara George)
“Even Though Our Love Is Doomed“
“The World Is Not Enough“
“Stupid Girl“
“Only Happy When It Rains“
“Push It“
“Vow“

Sky Ferreira’s set-list:
“24 Hours“
“Ain't Your Right“
“Guardian“
“I Blame Myself“
“Voices Carry“ (’Til Tuesday cover)
“You're Not the One“

Garbage/Cigarettes After Sex, October 21, 2016 at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery

I’d gambled on missing Garbage at the Jack FM show, betting that they’d be back later in the tour, and it paid off when they played at the cemetery, a much better choice, for the venue, for getting a full set, and for getting to not have to see House of Pain. This was on the tour for Strange Little Birds, a fair effort well after we expected the heights of their earliest stuff, and the comfort of playing a home-town show once they moved here (to whatever degree that was, but their mailing address was on Edgemont, also not far from there). Carla & I had been to the cemetery frequently in the summer for movies, and we had been to the lodge room for a smaller show, but not a full concert on the main lawn. We knew to take a picnic, not expecting to move too far up to get into the claustrophobia of bodies jockeying to get close to the stage (if they have fans still young enough to want to get so close and sweaty). It turned out the stage was expansive enough to afford a view from the comfort of the back, as close as we needed to get, and the music sounded fine. On a cool early-autumn evening shortly after the sun went down, it was a singular environment, with much of the moody material from their newest album making for a lush atmosphere. There was still plenty of rock and pop in there, too, the mixing of which is only one of the great things they’ve always done. Shirley was in fine form, being in vamp mode, maybe with the focus of a bad mood, on display when she got into an altercation with someone in the front of the crowd, an incident we only found out about afterward (like finding that it wasn’t Butch on the drums). Another club show would have been redundant, and frustrating for them and us since they deserved to play somewhere bigger on their own, that seeing them in this unique venue that doesn’t regularly have concerts in the first place made it seem like a special thing. Even if the set was unexciting with familiarity and the new stuff still needed more time to sink in, their experience as veterans paid off in a slick show, even if it became just another show for them. Not knowing the set-times we showed up early enough to see the openers, Cigarettes After Sex. They started getting around shortly after this, but at the time just sounded like Slowdive, which was actually fine, for easing into the evening.

Garbage’s set-list:
“Subhuman“
“I Think I'm Paranoid“
“Stupid Girl“
“Automatic Systematic Habit“
“Blood for Poppies“
“The Trick Is to Keep Breathing“
“Sex Is Not the Enemy“
“Blackout“
“Magnetized“
“Special“
“Shut Your Mouth“
“Even Though Our Love Is Doomed“
“Why Do You Love Me“
“Night Drive Loneliness“
“Bleed Like Me“
“Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)“
“Vow“ (with "Don't Hurt Yourself" snippet)
“Only Happy When It Rains“
“Push It“

“Sometimes“
“Empty“
“#1 Crush“

Garbage/Torres, October 6, 2015 at Humphrey’s By The Bay

I actually hadn’t originally planned to see Garbage for their 20th anniversary show for their self-titled debut album. I won’t say I’ve seen them enough, though I’ve seen them plenty, and they’d already played most of it over all the times I’ve seen them since they played their first club show for those songs. But Corey got tickets for the San Diego stop and would have needed someone to go with, and since it was around the time of the wedding, it became another bachelor party. Though for my other bachelor party event we were drinking and carousing and partying, I didn't necessarily need to do all those things to celebrate the end of my bachelorhood, and just getting to see a show is totally fine. So I drove down for the evening and left the next day, and I got to see a new venue. Humphrey’s By The Bay is a place I’ve noticed many mid-range bands use as their San Diego stop. It’s basically the court-yard of a hotel that might as well be a concert venue for the open space, but it’s near the water so it has a romantic ambiance, then no seats (at least for that show), and most of all, it’s not a large place, much more intimate than most of the places those bands would play in L.A., especially the Greek (where I normally would have seen them). Maybe there are bigger places to play in San Diego, or maybe that’s just the size of the crowd they’re playing to, or their fair-weather fans there for the hits have drifted away, but it fit well for the show. A run-through of their first album is fairly unnecessary, as those songs are still cherished enough to play well and enjoyed even still in their standard set, but if they can sell a show with it, they might as well. They only get one year to celebrate an anniversary. It might be more encouraging to get old-school fans out to see that album since they might not be getting as many new ones with new material. It was a trend for a while for bands to play whole albums and they did pretty well with them, at least as a reason to tour without new stuff that was grabbing anyone like it once it did.  For that night they laid on the strategic nostalgia, opening with “Subhuman,” their first, pre-album single (and what would have gotten me to the show if I'd known they were going to play it), then stopping half-way through to play a set of era-appropriate B-sides, which was a treasure enough to make it a show unique from every other time we’d seen them, even the very first. The album, played chronologically except for the mid-set pause, could have been said to have come in remixed cuts, some heavier than others, or could be said to have been updated into new versions, since they’ve been playing those songs for 20 years and have found new arrangements and ways to make them fresh to play. It might have thrown those fans who wanted to hear the album just as they have for two decades -- which doesn't make much sense since they already have it that way -- but it sounded fine to me, especially as I get to hear the evolution of those tunes (“Vow”) and the few they rarely play ("A Stroke of Luck"), haven't in years (“Fix Me Now”), or I haven't heard ("Dog New Tricks"). Then of course an encore with some tracks from other albums, maybe some hits, as per the usual for bands doing this.  The whole thing was unnecessary but if this keeps them going and helps to get new music out so we can get a new show next time, it’s good enough. It’s not likely I would be completely content with anything but a show of rarities and deep cuts anyway, so any time they’re playing the hits in a standard set is a version of another show anyway, though the change of scenery did more than anything to change up the familiar formula.  And I finally got “Subhuman” (albeit heavily remixed).  Torres opened, which we didn’t feel we had to give much attention to, so we wandered for a bit, not drinking, but partying in our own way. And plenty fantastical, to be in a setting close to the water with a great band that has held up all these years.

Garbage's set-list:

"Alien Sex Fiend" (20 Years Queer video intro)

"Subhuman"

"Supervixen"

"Queer"

"Only Happy When It Rains"

"As Heaven Is Wide"

"Not My Idea"

"A Stroke of Luck"

"Girl Don't Come"

"The Butterfly Collector" (the Jam cover)

"Trip My Wire"

"Sleep"

"Vow"

"Stupid Girl"

"Dog New Tricks"

"My Lover's Box"

"Fix Me Now"

"Milk"

"Kick My Ass" (Vic Chesnutt cover)

"Driving Lesson"

"Push It"

"Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)"

"#1 Crush"

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"