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Garbage digs deep for a concert celebrating its debut album

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Garbage brought its nostalgia trip to the Cosmopolitan’s Boulevard Pool Saturday night.
Erik Kabik

Three and a half stars

Garbage October 10, Boulevard Pool.

Garbage's latest tour is a 20th-anniversary celebration of the band's self-titled debut album, but the alt-rock quartet didn't simply run through the album's 12 songs Saturday night at the Cosmopolitan's Boulevard Pool. Opening with B-side "Subhuman," they proceeded to split the album into its two "sides," with another batch of bonus tracks in between. In all, there were only two songs in the 22-song set that didn't come from the 1995 album's sessions. That made the show a real treat for longtime fans, with some songs that haven't been part of the band's setlist since the ’90s, but it caused a bit of a mid-show lull. Some of the biggest hits came early in the show, and it was a while before the band brought out a couple of later hits for the encore.

But for those willing to follow Garbage on this particular nostalgia trip, it proved to be rewarding. Singer Shirley Manson commanded the stage, making herself heard despite a sometimes muddy sound mix at the beginning, and her bandmates confidently recreated the intricate rock/electronic mix of the album. Little-played songs like "Not My Idea" and "Dog New Tricks" sounded just as powerful as the hits, which themselves got a bit of sprucing up: "Only Happy When It Rains" with a moody, slow opening, and "Vow" with an intense extended coda. The crowd was subdued at times, but the energy surged just before the encore. “Bow down to me,” Manson sang on “Supervixen,” and everyone was happy to comply.

Setlist:

“Subhuman”

“Supervixen”

“Queer”

“Only Happy When It Rains”

“As Heaven Is Wide”

“Not My Idea”

“A Stroke of Luck”

“Girl Don’t Come”

“Butterfly Collector”

“Trip My Wire”

“Sleep”

“Vow”

“Stupid Girl”

“Dog New Tricks”

“My Lover’s Box”

“Fix Me Now”

“Milk”

Encore:

“Kick My Ass”

“Driving Lesson”

“I Think I’m Paranoid”

“When I Grow Up”

“#1 Crush”

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