Garbage thrills at Leeds

Posted on July 17, 2019 by Craig M

Well, there was such anticipation and nervous excitement for me leading up to my fourth time seeing my favourite band. You see, Garbage remain the only band I’ll make the effort to actually go and see live even if it means travelling miles to get to them. Accompanied by a good friend as well as meeting up with another fellow Garbage fan, even before the show we hung around by the stage door and the band’s tour bus for the hope of a chance encounter. I wasn’t disappointed … guitarist Duke Erikson came out to say hello as well as touring bass player Eric Avery and stand-in drummer Matt Walker (standing in for Butch Vig who had to stay at home due to a recent shoulder injury). They were all so nice and down-to-earth.

The concert itself was amazing. Fourth time seeing them I was slightly wondering if they would be as impressive as previously … suffice to say this was one of the best performances I’ve witnessed yet. Lead singer, Edinburgh born Shirley Manson was on fantastic form with plenty of charisma and energy and belted out hits like ‘Stupid Girl’ and ‘I Think I’m Paranoid’ as well as lesser known tracks like the haunting ‘On Fire’ … to a very appreciative crowd that were constantly jumping about and singing along. It was intense, adrenaline-fuelled and for me a genuine, life-affirming treat. Words can barely describe what it meant to this long-time fan but as the show ended I was on cloud nine.

My friends and I then decided to hang out by the stage door again and after a while, low and behold Shirley Manson came out to say hello, sign autographs and have pictures taken. She is simply the best. Even now, two days afterwards I can’t believe my luck and am pinching myself that it wasn’t just a very vivid dream.

A fan shot video of the band performing ‘Push It’ to a very energetic crowd.

To me, Garbage are and always will be a fantastic band to be into and I feel so proud to call myself a fan and a darkling.

Shirley and myself after the show.

A weekend to remember

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Craig M

I wouldn’t say I’m a massively outgoing person as far as venturing far and wide, but in recent years I’ve tried to broaden my horizons, at least when opportunities arise. Two such opportunities arrived the weekend just gone, not entirely planned as such but I jumped at the chance to go and see my favourite band once again … and then another opportunity came around to see a personal favourite TV sketch show’s live tour.

Probably over a year ago I booked tickets to see Garbage again in London as well as meet up with a friend I’d made last time I went. Some months later VIP meet & Greets were announced, and so yeah, once again I was going to meet the band and get a photo taken. The whole experience this time around was even better than I’d experienced in 2016 at The Troxy. For starters at Brixton Academy, the meet & greet q&a part of the VIP experience was in the same room where the photos were to be taken and it was a small, intimate affair with me sitting amongst 50+ fans within touching distance of the band (!!). It was so surreal as it wasn’t as if I was sitting before my favourite band, but almost like old friends … it all felt so nice and relaxed and really f’ing cool. I didn’t say much, as I knew I’d clam up (again) but did get a chance to say how fantastic I thought they were and that Version 2.0 (of which the tour was celebrating it’s 20th anniversary) was my favourite album of all time, by any artist. I got my photo taken which turned out to be more of a fun thing, with me posing with the band and all pretending to be zombies, with outstretched arms etc. lol.

The VIP experience also meant early entry so I was pretty much at the front (one short girl in front of me, so I had an awesome view) and what was the actual concert like? In short Garbage (Shirley Manson, Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker) were on electrifying form, belting out the hits as well as more obscure b-sides both word-perfect and with an energetic response from a sold-out Brixton Academy crowd. It was intense, heart-pounding, utterly feel good and the best I’ve seen them perform. Garbage are such a skilled and talented band and once again delivered an evening of rockin’ good entertainment that didn’t disappoint.

Two night’s later I was heading off to Liverpool to see The League of Gentlemen at the Echo Arena and this British sketch comedy four-piece that started out on radio before creating a cult TV show of the same name were utterly brilliant. They went through a plethora of their most famous sketches and iconic characters to deliver a 2hr+ show of bonkers humour, one-liners, political satire and toilet humour with no end of imagination and charisma. Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, Mark Gattis and (behind the scenes / co-writer) Jeremy Dyson are one of the best comedy groups Britain has spawned since Monty Python and that … is not said lightly. Translating the sketch-based comedy of the show worked well on stage and the sets and costumes were all very well done and seemed to go off without a hitch, aided by what appeared to be some funny ad-libbing and natural glimpses of the guy’s personalities. This show was partly a celebration of their 20th anniversary as well as a hinted at farewell to the characters unless this talented four-piece find a way to work together again at some stage … we’ll see. For now though, me and a couple of friends as well as the sold out crowd had a ball.

As far as my usual weekends go, this was pretty intense, rather exhausting but utterly fulfilling, creating memories I’ll look back on for years to come. So a big shout-out to Garbage and to The League of Gentlemen for making the past few days so very special.

Craig.

Version 2.0 anniversary

Posted on May 11, 2018 by Craig M

Today marks twenty years since the 2nd album by my favourite band of all time Garbage, was released. Let that sink in for a moment, maybe whilst you give it a listen.

For me it still sounds streets ahead of most other music today. Immediate, gutsy, futuristic and slick-as-hell. The perfect synergy of rock, electronica and musicality, with such memorable gems as ‘I Think I’m Paranoid’, ‘Push It’, ‘Temptation Waits’ and ‘The Trick Is To Keep Breathing’ even though all tracks are great. As a follow up to their brilliant debut, this delivered and then some and turned this fan into a super-fan.

Happy anniversary to my favourite album of all time!

Switch anniversary and the year ahead

Posted on March 3, 2018 by Craig M

Hi everyone. I’ve not posted like this in a while. Life’s been pretty busy start of the year despite me managing to cram in rather a lot of movies to review. Also there seems to be some good stuff on the horizon for me, and thought I’d give it a little write-up.

First it would be remiss of me not to mention that today marks the first year anniversary of the Nintendo Switch, a console I have fallen in love with and over the past twelve months has given me so much fun and enjoyment. Highlights of course include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, but along with this smaller titles like Rayman Legends and Steam World Dig 2 have also been a lot of fun. The portability, versatility of this system can not go un-mentioned either and it’s a unique joy to play it in bed, sitting in my living room or in front of my bedroom TV on a larger screen. Having the best of both worlds. In the process, the Xbox One and PS4 have fallen by the way-side and not the Switch is my go-to console of choice and with games on the horizon like Donkey King Country Tropical Freeze and Yoshi, I can see it staying that way for the foreseeable future.

I’m of course also looking forward to seeing Garbage again in concert in September. It will mark the 3rd time I have seen my favourite band live and well, I’m still pinching myself that I actually got to meet them as well back in 2016. This tour will mark the 20 year anniversary of their second album ‘Version 2.0’ and as it’s my favourite album of theirs where I went from liking the band to being a real fan, this concert where they’ll play every track and every b-side released at the time … fills me with excitement. I’ll be meeting up with a few like-minded friends when I am there so it should be a great experience for me again. Incidentally, lead singer Shirley Manson was recently honoured by UK publication NME with their first ‘icon’ award which was presented to the Scottish singer at their annual NME awards in London. As a long time fan this was a very proud moment for me. I have said it before and I’ll keep saying it .. Garbage don’t get the recognition they deserve and it’s awards like this that feel even more special simply for that fact. Well done Shirley! Currently they are working on album #7 with a hope of a release in 2019.

In other news, I’m currently watching several TV shows, including new seasons of Homeland, X-Files, The Walking Dead and Mr. Robot, the latter I consider one of the best shows available right now. Speaking of TV shows, I was pleased to see a brief return of one of my favourite cult shows over Christmas, namely The League of Gentlemen, which was only three episodes but it was bliss. The creators, Mark Gatiss, Jeremy Dyson, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton then followed this up by announcing a tour, of which I rushed to secure tickets. Strangely enough it’s scheduled for two days after I see Garbage. What a weekend that will be! Their brand of humour is rather dark, character-driven comedy that is probably an acquired taste, but I love it.

As far as this blog is concerned, I want to vary the content a little and might do special posts of certain subjects, like favourite actors, movie genres etc and more stuff on video games and music. I’m unsure what form that will take as I want to make it as interesting as possible, but I continue to love writing this blog and it keeps my love of writing alive. Hope you all manage to get something from it too.

Until next time.

Craig.

Garbage heading back to London

Posted on September 8, 2017 by Craig M

I’ve reported many times on here of my love and admiration for alternative rock pioneers ‘Garbage‘. Over the last couple of years I’ve even had the privilege of seeing them live … topped off with the utterly surreal and amazing experience of actually meeting the band for a VIP meet and greet in 2016. Well next year I’ll be making it a hat-trick and seeing them live once again for their upcoming show at Brixton Academy. The show, which I’m presuming will form part of a tour, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their second, Grammy nominated album ‘Version 2.0‘ – a personal favourite of mine. So to say I’m excited is an understatement.

Roll on 2018!