Garbage at the Brixton Academy

People piled into Brixton Academy on a warm Sunday evening and were greeted by the sounds of The Pixies and bands alike, setting the scene for the band about to take to the stage. Garbage was about to play their first London show as part of the 2012 tour.

Wisconsin based four-piece band, Garbage, formed in 1994 and since then have achieved chart success and released five albums. Their most recent release Not Your Kind of People has been in the making for two years and the fans were clearly dying to hear the band again.

After much anticipation, the support band The Jezabels took to the stage for a fast paced and excitement-filled, five song set. With a sound similar to the likes of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Garbage themselves, the crowd were prepared for the headline act.

The band took to the stage all at once but for the leading lady, Shirley Manson who left the crowd to wait before roars broke out as she graced the stage with her domineering presence, kicking off the show with Automatic Systematic Habit. The energy of the crowd as well as the band surged onward as they went straight on to playing their smash hit I Think I’m Paranoid only to be followed by screams of enthusiasm as Manson allowed the audience to sing along with the chorus to Stupid Girl.

Crowd-pleasers a many, Manson took a second to thank the crowd and in a heartfelt manner exclaimed: “thanks for believing in us” before playing their, potentially best song, Only Happy When it Rains and finishing the set with a wild and energetic rendition of Push It. The screams and cheers from the crowd that followed could only mean one thing. Encore, and an encore that did more than please the crowd as the words to Supervixen echoed around the arena and the audience were sent off with the title track to new album Not Your Kind of People.

Shortly before the end of the show an anecdotal story from Manson about meeting Florence Welch at a festival and being told that she was her inspiration, led to the lead singer picking a crowds piece of fan mail from the audience and reading it to her on stage.

After several years of the band being apart and their first London show since 2006, Garbage have set a definite pedestal for their new album and in the back of everyone’s mind after the show are the three words: Garbage are back. 

Peter Campbell

Photos:  Helen Parish 

Listen to Not Your Kind of People here: