![\"garbage-and-brian-whelan-2016-062\"](\"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Garbage-and-Brian-Whelan-2016-062.jpg\")
<\/a>Being blessed to witness the emergence of women in rock has captivated me from Day One. The list includes Pat Benatar, Stevie Nicks, Deborah Harry, Joan Jett and Ohio native Chrissie Hynde to name a few.\u00a0 One from the mid 90\u2019s who has scratched an itch is one Shirley Manson fronting the band Garbage. I last saw her in 2015 and quite frankly she seemed to just go thru the motions, but this night with her killer\u00a0 band in tow she melted down the Revention Music Center and then some!<\/p>\nSteve Marker and Duke Erickson scorched all night mainly in the darkness backed by the welcome always drum work of vet original Butch Vig and Eric Avery\u2019s extra kick on bass.\u00a0 Make no mistake about it though that the crowd could not peel their eyes off the stalking the stage mad woman Manson.\u00a0 When the stellar \u201cI Think I\u2019m Paranoid\u201d was followed by a drawn out spooky intro to \u201cStupid Girl\u201d, the crowd came to life and stayed that way throughout the set which featured a nice assortment of tunes from their six albums, including deep cuts, too!\u00a0 Shirley took it upon herself to dedicate a lot of the songs to what she called the weirdos who have been loyal for so many years stating : \u201cYou people speak our language!\u201d\u00a0 Amen sister indeed.\u00a0 Their 2016 release went under the radar for air play these days, but new tracks \u201cEmpty\u201dand \u201cSometimes\u201d reserved for the encore plus\u00a0 \u201cBlackout \u201c, stood toe-to-toe with all the vast library of cult like cuts for sure.<\/p>\n
Manson\u2019s powerful pipes were on display all night. The woman, who has just turned 50, has found a fountain of youth as far as delivering a sharp as a razor performance which seems effortless to her.\u00a0 Her cool charisma oozes from the stage singing as if she has not been prowling a stage for over 20 years. Garbage has always said what is on their mind and this night was no different. \u201cSex is Not the Enemy\u201d went out to the abuse against LGBT and she went on to say that the love\/hate relationship they\u2019ve had over the years with the press stemmed from them expressing their opinions as they observe society speaking out for everyone-not just her.<\/p>\n