Garbage's Shirley Manson issues stark warning about future of music
Shirley Manson fears music will lose its "weirdos, rebels, agitators and provocateurs".
Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson has warned that the current state of the music industry is a threat to future “esoteric, risk-taking, creative, adventurous weirdos, rebels, agitators, and provocateurs.”
The Why Do You Love Me hitmakers recently revealed they quit touring because "the thievery of the record industry" has made performing live "very difficult".
At their concert at The Anthem venue in Washington, D.C. last month, the band billed their current US trek as their last venture on the road because the "economics" of live shows has made playing concerts "untenable".
At a more recent gig, the 59-year-old rocker raised her concerns about future generations.
The Scottish star said it's “imperative that we all start to understand what exactly is going on in the music industry.”
She warned onstage at the Mission Ballroom in Denver, Colorado on October 12: “This is not a pity party for us, this is an alarm call for all the young generations of musicians who are in our wake, and who we feel duty-bound to speak up for because there’s nobody speaking up for them.”
She added: “I bring this up tonight because you are the ones who will lose out on a generation of esoteric, risk-taking, creative, adventurous weirdos, rebels, agitators and provocateurs.
“You’re gonna get f****** white bread.”
Shirley told the audience in Washington: "We have as a band decided that, due to basically the economics of the music industry, that we have to curtail our headline touring business.
"It has, thanks to the thievery of the record industry, made touring very, very difficult. We’re not complaining, we’ve had a f****** great run."
Sharing her fears for young musicians struggling to tour, Shirley added: "I bring this up only because my concern is of course for young musicians who go out there and tour, they’re holding down jobs, they take two weeks off their work and they go around the country.
"Sometimes they’re sleeping in their van, sometimes they’re staying in really, really dodgy so-called motels and it’s dangerous and it’s really unacceptable and it really has to stop. Whatever’s going on, it really has to stop. It’s unsafe and it’s unacceptable."
Shirley added of the future of Garbage: "So we have just decided that the economics have become untenable, so this is kind of the last time that we’ve decided we’re going to get on a bus and just tour all over North America.
"It’s a fantastic privilege and it’s so beautiful and exciting and amazing. And all the more so because I doubt that we’ll do a tour this size ever again.
"We all feel that we’ve been so immensely privileged and we’ve enjoyed unbelievable support from our fans, from you.
"At times in the music industry, they’ve told us we’re old, we’re over, nobody’s interested, nobody gives a f***, nobody wants to play us on radio, nobody wants to interview us. And then you lot came along. You were like: 'Get behind us, Satan'. And we won’t forget it."
Shirley concluded by telling the crowd: "We want to drink to your amazing collective health, we don’t know if we’ll ever see you again, maybe we will, maybe we won’t.
"But we all want you to be healthy and happy. Stay kind, stay adventurous, stay curious, ask lots and lots of questions, surround yourself with beautiful animals and natural and really, really good people.
"And if they’re s***** people, get rid of them. If they’re great people, here’s to you."
Garbage's US tour continues until November 5 when they perform at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. They then head to Mexico City, Mexico for a final show on November 14.
