Garbage- Gig Review & Photo Gallery 4th December @ A Day On The Green, Sirromet Wines QLD

Posted on December 5, 2016 by KaydanHowison

GARBAGE/The Temper Trap
A Day On The Green, Sirromet Wines QLD
December 4th, 2016
Support – Adalita, Tash Sultana, The Preatures

Endless deck chairs, copious amounts of wine and questionable middle-aged dancing. That pretty much describes A Day On The Green which had me feeling ashamed of my Coles bought sandwich as i hid it away slowly, hoping the people eating various cheeses and prawns beside me didn’t see the sadness hidden in my bag.

But the sadness didn’t end there as Adalita took to the stage. Possessing a voice with much potential, most of it was wasted on rather unintelligent stage banter which descended into questionable Australian bogan territory. The songs themselves were mostly just watered down Patti Smith numbers and failed to gauge anyone in the crowd. The ultimate nail in the coffin being when the MC had to remind everyone to cheer after she left, which is never a good sign.

Not all hope was lost however as Tash Sultana took to the stage. Armed with herself and a guitar, the sounds created by this young woman were nothing short of awe-inspiring. Using effects pedals, drum loops and various instruments i’m not sure of the names of (sue me) her emotional power onstage, complete with her beautiful yet minimalistic vocals created an almost haunting quality to the day. Which no doubt made all those bottles of wine seem rather justified as the crowd ate up everything she did or said. This is the kind of talent this country needs right now, more than ever. Sultana is going places fast, so catch her in a small venue while you can. You won’t regret it.

Sadly there’s not a lot of good i can say about The Preatures beside being at least musically competent and rather engaging in that regard. Their vocalist lacks any real punch and seemed like she would rather be anywhere but on the stage. Not that it stopped the rather drunk crowd who by this time had resorted to spanking each other and shaking it like they just heard their first Britney Spears song. So i guess they were successful because i’m just a cranky old man. Onward!

You might remember The Temper Trap, they wrote the song ‘Sweet Disposition’ if you don’t know it. It’s probably because you lived under a rock, which is apparently where most people thought this band was living. Which would be sad, because as a live unit these guys fucking slay. Engaging the crowd from the first note, their frontman had them eating out of the palm of their hand as they left people awash in infectious pop prog music which no doubt had a few people begging for the weed which was wafting around the venue. Ending their set with THAT song was just about the icing on the cake as everyone stood up and lost their collective shit before preparing themselves for the one and only Garbage.

Garbage were an odd band in the 90’s – not quite Pumpkins worship and not as outrageous as Courtney Love. They never quite attained the heights of some of their contemporaries, but hardly any of that matters when you’re as iconic as Shirley Manson who even today stands head and shoulders as an inspiration for female musicians everywhere.

Opening with ‘Subhuman’ the crowd cheered with infectious abandon as the songs NIN influenced notes bounded around the grass field as people got out of their deckchairs and danced like it was still 1995. Manson didn’t stop very often between songs, if only to tell people about the importance of females in rock music or to stand up for yourself, it was just enough as to not come across as overly preachy. Which is great because Garbage have honed their craft to a fine machine now as songs like ‘Stupid Girl’ and ‘I Think I’m Paranoid’ sound as relevant today as when they were first created. Playing some new songs, the crowd happily danced the night away as they slotted perfectly with the older material.

Ending with an encore of ‘I’m Only Happy When It Rains’ and the iconic ‘Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)’ saw just about everyone turn everything up to another level as they whipped the crowd into a frenzy and no doubt had some people regretting their actions the next day.

Unfortunately though, the lack of any real outro section just made the set seem rather anticlimactic not that i think many people would mind as tonight Garbage gave everyone the time of their lives. Leaving everyone keen for the next instalment of this iconic festival.

Photographer Stewart Munro shot the action for us.
Bands feel free to share.
Others – please don’t use without permission.

The Preatures