Never one to suffer fools gladly, Garbage frontperson Shirley Manson broke up an alleged altercation during the band's set at KROQ's "Almost Acoustic Christmas" show on December 9 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
Shirley Manson, Butch Vig and Erik Avery at the KROQ 'Almost Acoustic Christmas,' Kia Forum, Inglewood, Calif.
The band were into their third song "Wolves," when Manson spotted the squabbling at the front of the stage.
"Stop, stop," Manson instructed her band, pausing the show. The singer then turn her attention to the situation in the crowd. "Knock this off, girls. Knock this f**king s**t off right the f**k now. What the f**k is wrong with you? F**k this s**t."
She continued, "I don't know ladies, I don't know what the f**k-ing story is; quite frankly, I don't care. There's enough f**king bulls**t in this world... I don’t care who it is. I want it to f**king stop. This is f**king bulls**t. Do we not have enough f**king s**t going on in the world without going f**king aggro at some f**king Christmas party? F**k this."
Manson then pointed out to the venue’s staff, "Separate them right the f**k now. Security, I'd like you to get your f**king a**es in there and find out what the f**k is going on," she said. "I don't want anyone to get hurt. Somebody has lost something, whether it’s a contact lens, glasses or a phone. Let's f**king sort it out."
Manson performing at the KROQ 'Almost Acoustic Christmas,' Kia Forum, Inglewood, Calif., December 9, 2023.
Broadcasting her frustration, she yelled, "Meanwhile, we’ve got 30 f**king minutes on this stage and you're eating into our time. So f**king get it sorted. I don't have patience for this s**t." The band then proceeded to finish their slot in the show.
Though it is unclear from various videos what exactly Manson spotted going on in the crowd, a woman who claims to have been involved in the dispute called into KROQ’s The Kevin / Ally Show on Monday to offer some clarification, according to Entertainment Weekly.
"It wasn’t what Shirley thought it was,” said the caller, Amanda. "It was actually me defending myself and my girlfriend because there was this one girl who was just torpedoing her way through the front rows. And when she came in and she’s pushing her way through, and she’s pushing my girlfriend out of the way and then her hands in my face, I’m gonna defend myself."
She continued, "I didn't mean to interrupt the show. I'm a huge Garbage fan and I was really pissed that that happened. Everyone in the audience was so chill and all of a sudden you have this rude drunk girl coming through like a tornado."
She added that while she didn’t intend for things to get physical, she ended up throwing a punch and pulling the other woman's earring off. Although she said it was difficult to enjoy the remainder of the concert because "I felt like I got yelled at by my mom," she expressed gratitude at Manson for intervening, especially because she was able to save her glasses before they were crushed by the crowd.
