Not surprisingly, Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson looks up to Blondie’s lead singer, Debbie Harry. What is surprising is that a band that started in the ’90s and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band that started in the ’70s would go on the road together.
“All of us in Garbage love Blondie,” said drummer Butch Vig, who also produces all of his band’s music. “I think you hear bits and pieces of that punk and new wave influence in Garbage.”
Opening the Aug. 2 show at the Mann Center in Philadelphia will be Deap Vally. The Garbage/Blondie tour, dubbed “Rage and Rapture,” previously had John Doe and Exene Cervenka of the seminal punk band X as the opening act.
Framing what a fun time it’s been, Vig shared in a phone interview that both bands, along with John Doe and Exene Cervenka, all went out to dinner together the previous night in Minneapolis. “The wine was flowing,” he reported.
The set will probably include the new single “No Horses,” which Vig described as a Patti Smith-style tone poem. The next full album from Garbage is set to drop next summer, according to Vig.
“We’re looking forward to seeing our fans in Philadelphia,” he said.
While along the way to selling more than 15 million albums worldwide, the band with the ironic name took a seven-year hiatus from 2005-2012. “We just ran out of gas, really. We had done four records, four long tours. That was at a point when the industry was changing. We felt like a ship floating by ourselves. All of us needed to refresh our lives,” said Vig, who went back to music production full-time during those years.
So what is up with that band name, anyway?
While remixing a song by Nine Inch Nails, Vig had an assemblage of what he described as noise with no melodic structure. Someone within earshot of the studio control room sneered: “That (expletive) sounds like garbage.”
Taking that as a challenge, Vig responded: “Well I’m gonna turn this garbage into a song, (expletive).”
Later, catching a video of Manson’s previous band, Angelfish – taped from an episode of MTV’s “120 Minutes” by friend and future bandmate Steve Marker – Vig knew that he had found the singer to make his vision happen.
Marking their 20th anniversary in 2015, Garbage played a few concert dates performing their self-titled debut album in its entirety, along with the 1995 B-sides. Vig said they might do the same thing next year for the 20th anniversary of their second album, “Version 2.0.”
A line from the “Version 2.0” single, “Push It,” is the title of a new autobiographical coffee table book on the band, “This is the Noise That Keeps Me Awake.”
“We’re pretty pleased with it. It took three years to put it together. Even if you’re not a Garbage fan, I think you’ll dig it,” Vig said.
IF YOU GO
What: The Rage and Rapture Tour with Garbage and Blondie.
When: 7 p.m. Aug. 2.Where: Mann Center for the Performing Arts, 52nd and Parkside Avenue, Philadelphia.
Tickets: $39.50-$99.50.Info.: Call (800) 745-3000 or visit www.manncenter.org.
