This Summer, Cardiff has possibly become the best city in the UK for live music with a rich, diverse line-up of outdoor gigs at the 10,000-capacity Castle and the 35,000-capacity Blackweir Fields.
Tonight, the Welsh capital is treated to not one, but two legendary 90’s rock bands, as Garbage and Skunk Anansie’s joint headline tour rolls into the city. Towards the end of the evening, Shirley Manson remarks that the bands “go together like fine wine” and she’s not wrong.
It’s a beautiful setting for a gig and both bands seem genuinely appreciative of the views and overwhelmed by the reception from the enthusiastic crowd. Sightlines are good from wherever you are stood and the sound is so much more impressive than you typically get in city centre outdoor concerts. Of course, both bands are known for their impeccable sound mixes anyway and the quality and volume of sound at Cardiff Castle does them justice tonight.
Newcastle punk rock artist, Du Blonde, opens up and despite the occasional false start (which they explain is due to a particularly difficult day for their M.E.) delivers an enjoyable set perfectly fitting for the headline bands’ audience. Indeed, they point out that they have recorded songs with both Shirley Manson and Skin and play the collaboration with the latter, ‘Next Big Thing’, albeit without the special guest (rumour has it, Skin will join for it at the next show).
Skunk Anansie are the first headliners on tonight and are a band at the peak of their live powers. This is not a band going through the motions or relying on nostalgia, every member plays with the energy of a newcomer genuinely excited to be there, like they still have something to prove.
8 of the 15 songs they play were released after their 2009 reunion – this is not just a 90’s hits show. Those more recent songs, including 3 from last year’s ‘The Painful Truth’ album (incidentally, the highest charting album of their career so far), are just as thrilling and urgent as anything they recorded in the 90s and are received equally well by the crowd.
Of course, the major hits like ‘Hedonism’ and ‘Weak’ generate enormous singalongs and punk rock anthems ‘Yes It’s Fucking Political’ and ‘Little Baby Swastikka’ are as potent and important as they ever.
Skin remains one of the most impressive and captivating frontpeople in the business. Her boundless energy infecting the crowd from the second she bursts onto the stage. Briefly pausing to change into something more comfortable given the high temperatures, she otherwise doesn’t come up for air. She’s still crowd-surfing, jumping into the audience for a mosh pit with her handheld ‘Skin cam’, and delivering seemingly effortless yet mighty vocals. It feels like an impossible act to follow and Garbage frontwoman, Shirley Manson, points out just that.
One of the things that makes this night so special is the genuine affection both bands share for each other and the tour. Both talk about how much they have enjoyed this particular tour, have extended monologues about what they admire in the other band, and are sincerely moved by the experience. Manson, at points, close to tears when she says “as a band, we never expected to receive this kind of reaction”. The audience are truly delighted to be here, fully immersed in each set.
Garbage may have had a very difficult task but they undoubtedly matched what came before. If anything, there was a sense that each band had “levelled up” perhaps influenced by each other’s performances on this tour.
With Butch Vig on drums, Garbage are always going to sound technically excellent. Sound engineers who have worked with them before have gone on record to talk about how exciting and complex the band’s spec is. Tonight, they are flawless throughout.
Shirley Manson remains a compelling frontwoman. As with Skin, everything that made her so special when they first broke through in 1995 is still there but legitimately improved. Still politically and musically vital, they expertly weave through hits like ‘I Think I’m Paranoid’ and ‘Stupid Girl’ alongside newer material including 5 tracks from last year’s impressive ‘Let All That We Imagine Be Light’ album.
The set is framed by two songs from that album, expansive and atmospheric, they demonstrate that this is a band still committed to improvement and evolution. Closing track, ‘The Day That I Met God’, may not be one of their monster hits (plenty of those like ‘Only Happy When It Rains’ and ‘Push It’ are played tonight and are rapturously received) but it’s a perfect set closer, leaving us all firmly of the opinion that this is a band still with things new and exciting to offer.
Bands and audience clearly agreed that this was an exceptional evening – a combination of a beautiful location, good weather, impressive sound, an engaged audience and two truly impressive headline sets that didn’t compete so much as elevate each other into something greater.
