This summer, Garbage and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds will be hitting the road for a joint trek across North America in celebration of Noel & Co's much anticipated fourth album, Council Skies, and Garbage's triumphant return in 2021 with No Gods No Masters.
LISTEN NOW: Annalisa talks with Shirley Manson and Noel Gallagher
Speaking with 93XRT in Chicago's Annalisa, Scottish singer Shirley Manson of Garbage says she's looking forward to making a return this summer to the 'Windy City,' a place she's always felt at home as it's where she met the rest of her band when they were just getting started in the early '90s. "My career sort of started there," she adds, remembering her very first concert in the city with her band Angelfish when the Garbage crew was coming to check her out. "Me and [tour mate] Vic [Chesnutt] were hanging out on the sidewalk and we were really drunk. Unfortunately, I pushed Vic -- he was a paraplegic, so he was in a wheelchair -- I pushed him out of his wheelchair, accidentally, and sprawled Vic all over the sidewalk right in front of Butch Vig, Steve Marker, and Duke Erikson. That was how the band met me for the first time, it was awful!"
Noel, looking back on his own Chicago experience, recalls a famous gig his former Britpop band Oasis played at the iconic venue The Metro. "It was filmed, I think for MTV or something," he says, "there's a bootleg of it, and it's one of our great, great gigs off that American tour. It might have been our first one... was that our first gig, The Metro?" Confused, Shirley wonders, "Are you asking me? How the hell am I supposed to know?"
"Yes, I'm asking you, Shirley," Noel laughs. "Because you should have it written down in front of you! Chicago Metro was a great, great Oasis show. Amazing."
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Diving into some of the artists' firsts and favorites, Noel remembers British singer/songwriter Leo Sayer's "Won't Let The Show Go On/The Show Must Go On" as the very first record that was ever bought for him. "It's actually a pretty good tune, you know, and he was dressed on the 'Top of the Pops' as a clown. That's what I must have liked about it, but it's actually not a bad tune."
Odd as Noel's choice may be, Shirley remembers her first being a Czechoslovakian television theme song for the show The White Horses. "It's actually a beautiful theme," she says, "that I want played at my funeral. That was the first record that I ever bought and the first song that I can remember falling in love with... It's so beautiful, it's about death."
Bringing things full circle, some of the artists they are each listening to now were brought into the conversation. "Young Fathers for me," Noel says easily. "Yes, yes! Amazing record," Shirley adds, "and my people." Noel continues to heap on praise saying, "their last three records are incredible. If you haven't heard them, they're kind of un-pigeonholeable."
Back in January of 2023, 93XRT in Chicago lost radio legend Lin Brehmer, and Annalisa brought up how Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds song "Easy Now" helped ease the pain of loss during that period. "Honestly, as a songwriter, you kind of live for these moments where people will tell you that a song came along at the right moment," Noel says. "That's what songs are designed for, it's to touch people and to kind of move them in some way. To remind them of something or to tell you something about yourself or situation... I appreciate that."
For Shirley, who wrote on Garbage's 2021 No Gods No Masters, "The men who rule the world have made a f***ing mess," she certainly knows how good, even "triumphant," words can be in the healing process. "Every time we play it live, the audience cheers and it just feels really gratifying. Because it's frustrating to deal with a lot of these old men in power making terrible decisions, as far as I'm concerned, for the country and the world at large. That was my wee moment of revenge and it always brings a little smirk to my face every time we perform it."
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Listen to the full interview with Shirley Manson and Noel Gallagher above, and stay tuned for more conversations with your favorite artists here on Audacy.
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and Garbage -- featuring special guest Metric -- will hit the road this summer kicking off June 2 on the U.S. West Coast. For official dates and ticket info, click HERE.
Additionally, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' much anticipated fourth album, Council Skies, is set for release on June 2, while Garbage, Shirley says, is currently working on their eighth studio album.
Listen to more of your favorite music on Audacy's Women of Alt, Oasis Radio, Rockternative, Drivin' Alt, New Wave Mix Tape, 90s and Chill, Alterna 00s, Emo Kids, Alt Now, and ALT Roots stations -- plus check out our talent-hosted Kevan Kenney's Music Discovery, and Megan Holiday's My So Called '90s Playlist.
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