Words by: Belinda Quick
Photos by: Missy Smiley
“We are the Amazons… Wild ourselves, we inhabit the wild places. Freedom courses in
our blood, and death whispers at the tip of our arrows” – Anne Fortier, The Lost
Sisterhood
Arguably the greatest female-fronted rock band of the last 30 years, GARBAGE, ignited in a sold out performance at the newly-renovated and recently-reopened Thebarton Theatre. A headline-credited act at 2025’s GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL last week, delivering a trio of searing performances, the multi-latinum quartet performed their first Australian sideshow, Version 2.0 in Adelaide.
Emerging from blue-lit darkness, Naarm artist, LUCKY, acknowledges Australia’s First Nations people. Regal architraves creating a frame around the soloist, Too Tied by a brotherhood of musicians, from first strike Lucky plays Hide N Seek, dancing across the broad stage. Sharing the headliners’ pathos, blending alt rock with ‘dreamy’ indie, it is conceivable that Shirley Manson herself discovered and Adored Melbourne’s Lady Beetle, selecting the perfect opener for tonight.
Audiences spill into the theatre’s art deco conversation pits and out into the contrastingly green beer garden that stands adjacent to Adelaide’s busiest industrial arterial road, in the flurry of intermission. The crowd swelling in short time, the summer night’s already stifling heat is intensified by the energy of the mass, who summarily return to the main playhouse.
Smoke swirling on the blackened stage, Angelo Badalementi’s iconic Twin Peaks aria plays. An aesthetic design choice made by Garbage to develop an eerie atmosphere, Laura Palmer’s Theme is silenced by the ovation of the crowd, as Shirley Manson appears. Wearing a strong yet seductive, modified tartan kilt, brimming with synonymous energy the band burst into No Future, exhibiting the very opposite for themselves.
Manson’s vocals exquisite, the opaque silhouette of touring bassist Nicole Fiorentino and her ethereal harmonisation Hold my attention. I Think I’m Paranoid momentarily, realising my distraction from the main players I’m snapped back into reality by their pause which allows an enormous crowd acapella chorus. Taking back her reign, Manson smiles; giving her solemn Vow to keep performing with vigour.
‘If you will, allow me to take you back to the first record’ and ‘a memory of a time I shared with
Duke (Erikson) while creating it.’
Thirty years younger, but never too old to “play on the swings”, Not My Idea was the idea that started it all. Consecutively it’s revealed that, rejected by executives from 1995’s self-titled debut, ‘one of the most successful songs of our career‘, #1 Crush would never have been without the ‘vision of the great Baz Luhrmann.’
Renowned for expressing strong convictions, Manson dedicates to ‘the times we live in, courtesy of some very white, very male’ Men Who Rule the World. Respecting anonymity, the intensity with which she chants ‘violator’ and the rigour with which Butch Vig thrashes his drumkit is as indicative of their passion as what follows.
The band collectively silences for a Special moment and dedication to ‘Michael Gudinksi; arguably one of the greatest record promoters in the world, and, certainly, the greatest in Australia.‘ A longtime collaborator and friend of Garbage, the emotion is palpable for all and is applauded by Steve Marker, before another proclamation of acceptance and equality is proffered for the Queer community.
Australian touring veterans,
‘It’s been 10 years since we’ve last been here, lord only knows if we’ll ever get back’
Garbage ponders the possibilities of what happens When I Grow Up and, embracing this moment, goes out in scintillating style. Manson’s timeless voice soaring from between Cherry Lips, the band Push It into the encore duet of Stupid Girl and Only Happy When It Rains, the greatest hits from their debut and sophomore records.
Monochromatic lightshows and pure ecstatic bedlam from start to finish, cherished by those both on and off stage, if this is, in fact, Australia’s final dalliance, the phenomenal performance proves regardless, Garbage is ‘not dead, (and) not done‘; there is plenty of life and love in, and for, them yet.
Special thanks to Frontier Touring
GARBAGE – Gallery
