Garbage Are Coming to Valencia — Three Decades of Alternative Rock Under the Open Sky
Garbage are one of the few bands from the 1990s alternative rock wave who have managed to remain genuinely relevant without trading on nostalgia. Fronted by Shirley Manson, they play Valencia on July 8, 2026, at the Jardines de Viveros as part of the Conciertos de Viveros 2026 summer series.
The band formed in 1993 in Madison, Wisconsin, around drummer and producer Butch Vig — the man behind the boards for Nirvana’s Nevermind and Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream — and guitarists Steve Marker and Duke Erikson. The search for a vocalist ended when Marker spotted Shirley Manson in a music video for her Scottish band Angelfish in 1994. Her voice — dangerous, sardonic, emotionally precise and unmistakably her own — became the defining element of the group’s sound from day one. The debut album Garbage (1995) sold over seven million copies worldwide, spinning off Queer, Only Happy When It Rains and Stupid Girl, which won the Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Version 2.0 (1998) received four Grammy nominations and four BRIT Award nominations including Album of the Year. The World Is Not Enough, the theme to the 1999 James Bond film, brought the band to a still-wider audience. Seven studio albums later — the most recent being No Gods No Masters (2021), described by NME as their best in twenty years — Garbage remain one of the most consistent and uncompromising acts of their generation, still led by Manson’s combination of charisma, anger and impeccable melodic instinct.
The Garbage concert in Valencia takes place at the Jardines de Viveros, the city’s beloved open-air amphitheatre in the La Saïdia neighbourhood, which has hosted summer concerts for decades. The show starts between 9:30 and 10:00 PM. Tickets from €25, average price €37, available at conciertosdeviverosvlc.com. Tickets on sale now.
