Garbage will perform at The Lincoln Theatre tomorrow in support of its latest album.
Not even a year has passed since Garbage paid a visit to the District, playing 9:30 Club to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band’s groundbreaking self-titled debut. While Garbage no longer enjoys the same level of commercial success it enjoyed during the 1990s, the quartet is as committed as ever to making music on its own terms.
“For a long time we were totally in step with pop culture, and that was glorious,” vocalist Shirley Manson recently told DCist, speaking of those salad days. “Like with all culture, there was a counter movement. We started to question if we had anything left of value. In the end, it doesn’t matter if we’re popular or not. If we’re in service as musicians, we have value.”
Garbage’s new album, Strange Little Birds, is proof that the band is perfectly fine with marching to its own drummer. The recording is not so much a re-invention of its sound, but rather an update and affirmation of the sonic approach that made Garbage a success in the first place.
“Sonically we were trying to capture mood, feeling, and atmosphere. Those were three words that we used a lot.” said Manson.
The album is cinematic in scope, which is appropriate for the lyrical content where Manson attempts to capture the uncertainty that seems to pervade everywhere these days. More than just comment, Manson wanted to address the lovelessness that she sees in society today, and directly confront the lack of compassion and empathy around us.
“It’s really an album of contemplation and a source of solace for those who feel the same way. That’s really what all art is about.” she explained. “‘Are you seeing this? We’re seeing this too.’ We’re very confident that there are millions of other people that feel the same way as us.”
While the tour has been a success thus far, it has not been without hiccups. Due to acute sinusitis and doctor’s orders to not fly, drummer/producer Butch Vig will not be performing on this leg of the tour, which stops at The Lincoln Theatre tomorrow evening.
The positive reviews are no doubt in large part to Manson’s ability to connect with an audience, a role she has grown into over the years and now relishes.
“I just want people to feel good and don’t have aspirations beyond that,” she said. “The show is an escape, and life is so hard for so many people right now that an escape might be good.”
Another change is that tomorrow’s show will take place at a different venue for Garbage, which generally plays 9:30 Club and has had a decades long relationship with I.M.P. Productions, the operator of both the Lincoln and 9:30. In fact, the connection was so deep that Garbage was tapped as the centerpiece act in the premiere episode of Live At 9:30, the concert series filmed at the venue. Manson said that saying yes to the offer was an “honor” and a “no-brainer.”
“These old-school rock clubs are dying out all over the world,” she said. “The 9:30 Club has seen everyone come and go and it’s run like a family. The one thing we treasure above all things are these clubs that endure.”
Garbage plays The Lincoln Theatre tomorrow, August 3, with opener Kristin Kontrol. 6:30 p.m. doors/8 p.m. show. Tickets $75.
