Garbage’s Shirley Manson Lost It Over Beach Balls At Good Things

Good Things Melbourne delivered drama yesterday – and not the usual “my phone died before TOOL” kind. This one involved Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson, a rogue beach ball, and a verbal roasting so fiery it could’ve melted the SPF off every emo in the pit.

During Garbage’s set, Shirley clocked a dude in the crowd wielding a beach ball and absolutely unleashed. We’re talking a full, nuclear-grade rant that scorched the earth beneath Flemington Racecourse:

“I joined a band because I HATED THE FUCKING BEACH.”

“Big guy with your big fuckin’ beach ball! Oooooh, I’m sooo scared of you, so thrilled by you! What a fuckin’ douchebag!…

Then, post-show the grunge icon doubled down on her anti-beach ball stance on Threads, adding:

“I make NO APOLOGIES whatsoever for getting annoyed at beachballs at shows. I joined a band because I HATED THE FUCKING BEACH. I joined a band because I wanted to listen to Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure and be dark and beautiful.

Continue listening to Spotify and toss your stupid beach balls around like you are ten years old. I love the musical community and I want to respect their artistry. I am so tired of folks taking music for free and treating us all like circus performers.”

Plot twist: Those beach balls?

Um, yeah so… those were kind of our bad.

Hi. Emmy from RedHook here.

Myself and members of fellow Aussie bands Yours Truly and Forever Ends Here were the ones who originally tossed the offending balls into the mainstage crowd at the behest of lineup super-subs Stand Atlantic, appropriately during their banger ‘Sex On The Beach’. And not gonna lie… good times were had by all.

Stand Atlantic frontwoman (and national treasure) Bonnie Fraser has now officially responded to Beach Ball-gate on her Instagram story, writing:

“love ya shirlz bad news for u coz we planned beach balls for every show 🙁 it aint gotta b so serious we r playing at a summer festival in a country that named a boat ‘ferry mc ferry face’

— sincerely, a fellow beach hater <3”

Will Shirley declare war on all inflatable recreational objects going forward? Will we see a beach ball security checkpoint at next year’s Good Things?

The punk, rock and metal summer rager continues in Sydney today before wrapping up in Brissie tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, Stand Atlantic, who joined the festival with four days notice after The All-American Rejects pulled out due to a family emergency, also managed to rip an epic cover of the MIA US pop-punk icons’ biggest hit ‘Give You Hell’ at the fest as tribute, prompting a big wholesome singalong:

“maybe the all american rejects were the friends we made along the way”

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Elsewhere, Alpha Wolf whomst had originally been tapped to sub in for fellow last-minute lineup scratchers Knocked Loose, also were forced to pull the pin last minute due to a medical emergency. Fellow local legends Thornhill sprung into action to assist and will now be taking their slot at all dates.