Went to the Garbage show last night to see GVSB (they also played Friday but that show was sold out before we could get tickets).  I am still getting over a lousy cold but despite the fact that I was drowning in my own mucous and feverish, I had to go. The venue information said that GVSB would be going on at 8:00.  As we were walking in at 7:45 we could hear them playing Park Avenue--hopefully it was the first song.  Whoever pushed them out on stage early or published the wrong start time should be throttled. Anyways, as we were running in, we saw the t-shirt area with a handwritten sign saying "Meet GVSB here at 8:45!"  For some reason it made me feel a bit sad--don't know why.

Anyways, the band were tight.  The acoustics in the Hollywood Palladium are pretty echoey (if that wasn't a word before, it is now) so the sound suffered some.  The songs were, if memory serves:

Park Avenue
Disco 666
In Like Flynn (this was cool.  They kept the guitar noise from Disco going while Eli strapped on his bass and then segued right into the song)
Cowboy's Orbit
Rockets Are Red(!!!)
Roxy (which they announced as their new single)
Bulletproof Cupid (after Roxy they asked the crowd "Do you wanna hear something a little more rockin'?  Yeah that song's pretty slow")
Exorcisto
Superfire

They all seemed to be enjoying themselves; moreso than at the show they headlined a bit ago.  They bantered with the crowd a bit--some ass in the audience yelled "Fuck you!" to which Eli replied "Thank you!  We'll try to get to that next."  The crowd was too sedate.  Not too many heads bopping but more and more came around towards the end.  One thing my sister and I both noticed was that Johnny and Scott looked more haggard than usual.  A lot more gaunt than the last show out here a month or so ago.  My sis worried that maybe it was drugs.  I tend to think it's just third degree road burn from so much touring.  Also Scott's voice was a bit rough.  He couldn't seem to reach certain notes.  It sucked to have such a short set too.

Went and met the band afterwards at the t-shirt booth.  They seemed genuinely happy and enjoying themselves chatting with everyone.  Got a swell poster signed by each of them.  I asked Eli when they'd be touring next and he said this tour with Garbage would be going on until December despite their site saying it was lasting until October 9th.  He said that the site's wrong 'cause they're getting the dates piecemeal--Europe's next.  Johnny had some flyers for Akashic products and one of the members of Distortion Felix (an Akashic release) was chatting with him.

The funniest guy there was this tall fella who I overheard pontificating to a couple of little missies about the band--but getting facts wrong ("They're originally from Chicago" "First release was on Touch and Go").  When the band came out he was stuck to them like glue, yakking away.  He even had his girlfriend come over and introduced her to them. When Alexis was signing my poster I asked if that guy was friend or a label rep or something.  Alexis stopped writing, rolled his eyes and shook his head no with a slight smirk.  I said that he was acting like he was in tight with them and Alexis smirked again, nodded slightly and murmured "oh yeah!"

And yes, every show archetype we've discussed were there in full force, including several of the "couples falling in love during the show".

Garbage were all right but we took off before they finished.  I have no idea what they planned for an encore because they played every single one of their radio hits during their set--and that was before we'd left.

All in all I had a good time but it felt like coitus interruptus what with the abbreviated set.