Known for her rebellious attitude and being the lead singer of Garbage, Shirley Manson is no stranger to confrontation. Throughout her time on stage, the singer has almost witnessed it all, but recently, the 57-year-old seemed shocked when a fight broke out during a Christmas concert the band was playing at.
Playing at Audacy’s KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas concert on Saturday, Manson found herself only having 30 minutes on stage. With no time to waste, the singer was performing “Wolves” when she noticed a situation happening in the crowd. Stopping the set, the singer advised the security of the venue to handle it.
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As the security moved to calm the fighting fans, Manson berated the individuals, saying, “I don’t know ladies, I don’t know what the story is; quite frankly, I don’t care. There’s enough in this world… I don’t care who it is. I want it to stop. Do we not have enough going on in the world without going aggro at some Christmas party?” Moving her attention to the security, she added, “Separate them right now. Security, I’d like you to get in there and find out what is going on. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Somebody has lost something, whether it’s a contact lens, glasses or a phone. Let’s sort it out.”
Admitted her patience was dwindling, Manson turned back to her band as they went on to play three more songs for fans.
PSA: don’t start nonsense in the pit at a @garbage concert. @kroq #AlmostAxousticChristmas pic.twitter.com/r5YGW2KqUt
— Rock Cellar Magazine (@RockCellarMag) December 10, 2023
Fan Apologizes For Defending Herself
As for the people in the middle of the confrontation, one individual, named Amanda, detailed what exactly happened on KROQ’s The Kevin / Ally Show and how Manson had it all wrong. “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.”
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Although noting she eventually punched the girl, Amanda apologized for causing a disruption of the concert given how much of a Garbage fan she is. While getting yelled at by one’s favorite musician isn’t great, Amanda said it reminded her of being chastised by her “mom.”
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)