Live Review: Garbage, The Temper Trap, The Preatures

On a line-up as strong as this one, it says a lot that the opener can steal the night with a daylight performance and a crowd still finding their place on the lawn. More so that The Preatures didn't even need to rest on their strong radio singles, they just laid down a straight-up southern rock vibe, groove rhythm and the strutting attitude of Isabella Manfredi. Manfredi is scarily impressive on the bigger stage, and regardless of crowd reaction she reaches for more from every person watching. Even before the eerily accurate cover of the Divinyls' Boys In Town, she proved that she has the chops to take the forever bright flame of Chrissy Amphlett into a new generation.

The Temper Trap arrived amidst thundering applause and waves of screams, their fanbase completely rabid for the Melbourne indie heartthrobs. The set masterfully built tension through Thick As Thieves, Love Lost and Trembling Hands with Dougy Mandagi delivering a blistering falsetto. Their live sound was pristine, every fill and effect from the studio was delivered in full and highlighted in the anthemic response and mesmerising joint vocal moment between the band and crowd as they closed out Sweet Disposition.

The artwork style of the latest release for Garbage is heavily on display in the stage layout. This was not in the smallest way far from the stage attitude of Shirley Manson, prowling and pacing the stage underneath the leopard imagery as she belted out Supervixen and I Think I'm Paranoid. They may have been down drummer and super producer with Butch Vig out for sinusitis, but the pairing of Duke Erikson and Steve Marker is still precision live, and their retrospective set heavy with classics like Stupid Girl, Vow, Bleed Like Me and the ultra-slinky #1 Crush is the perfect medium to show that. It would be hard to take away from it being anything but the world of Miss Manson, however. Over 20 years from the first record and she clearly didn't get the memo on ageing, still firing choruses with explosive energy and assertiveness and providing moments like an unexpected jaw dropping performance of Even Though Our Love Is Doomed in the most engaging of ways, embracing the country that first embraced the band.