Local act Private Life entertained the arriving sold out crowd at The Forum.
The five piece have a solid grasp on synth based, eighties influenced pop, and were a good fit for the headlining act.
However, the affected, forced stage presence and vocals of lead singer Renee Anderson held back the band somewhat, too much in thrall to the style of singers like Florence Welch and Kate Bush to the point of copying them.
This factor hindered what is a promising act. Time will tell in regards to the future for Private Life. Overall, they were a decent start to what would be a great evening.
It’s hard to believe that Garbage have been together on and off for nearly 20 years now. To many in attendance, they were part of the soundtrack of their teenage years and early twenties.
Drummer Butch Vig has a special place in the hearts of many who grew up in the early nineties for his production work on the landmark 1991 Nirvana album Nevermind.
Along with fellow producers Duke Erickson and Steve Marker, Vig formed Garbage in 1993 as a musical outlet to curb his growing boredom as a producer. The ‘it’ factor that really sent this band over the top was its spitfire Scottish lead singer Shirley Manson.
Armed with a striking voice and a ‘take no shit’ attitude that brings to mind such classic female artists like Patti Smith and Chrissie Hynde, she was at her absolute finest tonight.
Kicking off with “Supervixen”, with its stop/start guitar riff, the band – with the added assistance of ex-Jane’s Addiction bass player Eric Avery – proceeded to charm and enthral in equal measure. Manson has a truly magnetic stage presence that only a very special few possess.
Having released their comeback alum Not Your Kind Of People last year after something of a hiatus, it was refreshing to see a band from a period past both celebrating their back catalogue while moving forward at the same time.
Newer tracks like the scorching, venomous “I Hate Love” and “Blood For Poppies” sounded like they were simply picking up where they left off from 2005’s Bleed Like Me.
Their music was translated brilliantly from record to the live arena, with tracks like “Queer” and “Why Do You Love Me?” holding more punch and muscle than their recorded counterparts.
Manson was incredibly lively and positive in her between song banter with the audience. A rather priceless moment occurred during “When I Grow Up”.
Manson, forgetting her place in the track, got totally disoriented as to what she should be singing. The crowd immediately joined in loudly and proudly in response.
She apologised for this “monumental fuck up” and said that getting older has taught her to embrace her mistakes and learn from them. Wise words from a musical survivor.
The following track, “one of the saddest we’ve ever written” in Manson’s words, was the stunning “Cup Of Coffee”, showing the more vulnerable, fragile side of the band’s musical persona.
The older material, such as “Vow” and “#1 Crush” (which the band wrote for the Baz Lurhman version of Romeo + Juliet) got the biggest response from the crowd. “Cherry Lips”, with Manson’s cheeky shoutout to any ladyboys in the crowd, was another highlight.
“Vow” still sounds as fresh as it did when first released as a single way back when. The night closed out with a killer encore of “Special”, the electric “Stupid Girl” and a song that the band wrote for their Australian fans, the rather beautiful “Beloved Freak”.
A hugely entertaining night by a world class band.
