It took me 20 years to see Garbage live, but then I managed to see them twice in one year. After I saw them play at the 9:30 Club in DC last fall I knew if I got the opportunity I would definitely see them again, so I jumped on tickets as soon as I saw they were going to be playing in Baltimore at Rams Head Live. Of course by the time the concert rolled around months later my desire to go at that exact moment was not great. The show was on a Sunday night and as an introvert I tend to not want to do things on Sunday nights because it’s my time to get mentally ready for the forthcoming work week. Plus I wasn’t going to the show with anyone. I don’t mind going to Rams Head alone, but it means I don’t have that extra bit of motivation from someone else to go. Of course I had already paid for the ticket and didn’t have a real reason not to go. Plus I knew once I got there I would have a good time. So I went and of course was glad I did.

I was a little afraid once I got down there that the show as actually not going to happen thanks to a power outage. I wasn’t that surprised when I got the venue and they said they had no power because I tried to park in a parking garage near there and couldn’t get in because there was no power to the ticket machine or gates. Getting back out of the garage and finding somewhere else to park was a bit tricky since the entrance is up a long, steep, curvy ramp. I finally got someone who works there to move some pylons for me so I could get into one of the exit lanes and didn’t have to back all the way down.

I don’t know how long the power was actually out for, but it came back on about 20 minutes after I got there. They just wound up cutting the opening band’s set pretty much in half with Garbage still taking the stage at 9:15. It’s a little too bad about the opening, Kristin Kontrol, because I was actually quite enjoying them. Though I did spend their whole set trying to figure out if their lead singer was actually only wearing a large windbreaker over pantyhose, which is what it looked like. I hadn’t really listened to any of their music prior to the show, but I had seen that the lead singer used to be in the Dum Dum Girls, whose music I enjoyed. I also really liked Kristin Kontrol too. Like Torres at the 9:30 Club show last fall, I thought Kristin Kontrol was a perfect opening act for Garbage. Their musical stylings though not the same are very complementary and both bands are fronted by some very dynamic female vocalists. I would definitely go see them again all on their own.

I’m glad the show went on because Garbage of course was excellent again. According to Shirley Manson in 21 years of touring this is the first time they’ve ever had a power failure at a show. So yay for firsts I guess. I still am in complete love with Shirley Manson, which was made even greater by her saying the first time she had ever heard of Baltimore was from reading an Anne Tyler novel and also talking about Baltimore in relation to Edgar Allen Poe. Literary references, be still my beating heart. She is just so much fun to watch on stage too. Their normal drummer, Butch Vig, apparently has to sit this tour out due to some sinus infection he can’t shake, but the person filling in for him whose name is escaping me did a good job.

When I saw them last fall they were doing a special tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of their first album, which of course contains all the songs I really want to hear them play. I wasn’t sure how this show was going to be compared to that one since they have a new album out. I thought I might not get to hear all of my favorite songs in favor of them playing more of their new music. While they did obviously play some stuff off the new album, they also still got to all the hits I wanted to hear which made me happy. By the time the encore rolled around the only song I wanted to hear that they hadn’t played yet was “#1 Crush”. It was the song they ended their set with last time, so I figured there was a pretty good chance I was going to get it in the encore, and I did so I left a very happy girl.