[PREVIEW] Garbage @ The Centre in Vancouver

Photo by Mike White

If Shirley Manson’s only happy when it rains, she ought to come to Vancouver more often.

It’s been seven years since Garbage last played Vancouver in a blaring 20-song set at the Commodore Ballroom. In that time, the band went on hiatus twice, but now they’re together for the foreseeable future, touring on their fifth studio album, Not Your Kind of People, released in March.

Frontwoman Manson, guitarist Steve Marker, bassist Duke Erikson and Butch Vig are headed to the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts this Saturday, bringing with them what ought to be a lengthy and gem-filled set of Midwestern alternative, industrial, post-grunge rock. Opening is Screaming Females, a New Jersey indie trio that’s been gaining a lot of media exposure and are a fitting warm-up act.

“I Think I’m Paranoid” and “Only Happy When it Rains” are sure things, but fans should also count on other ’90s hits like “Queer” and “Stupid Girl” as well as more recent Garbage chart-climbers like “Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)”, “Sex is Not the Enemy” and the two newest singles, “Blood for Poppies” and “Battle in Me”.

This will be the band’s fourth time in Vancouver; the band has performed here in 1996, 1998 and 2005. Given the amount of time between Garbage shows, one would hope they’d make it to the northwest more frequently, but if you’re worried (or paranoid) it’ll be another seven years, Saturday’s your chance to see Manson and Co.

Let’s hope it rains!

Tickets range from $52.50 to $70.75 and are on sale through Ticketmaster in-person and online.