Garbage’s Shirley Manson Rants About Music Industry, Beach Balls

With the music industry in such a state these days, any number of things might cause an artist to launch into a righteous tirade against the myriad issues facing working musicians. For Garbage’s Shirley Manson, that thing was a beach ball. 

During a set at the Good Things festival in Melbourne, Australia, today (Dec. 5), Manson went all the way off after spotting a beach ball bouncing around in the crowd. Based on the video (shared by Stereogum), it doesn’t even look like the offending beach ball made it on stage, or even near Manson. But its mere presence was enough to inspire a righteous rebuke of music industry economics, lousy crowd behavior, and lame dudes in goofy hats. 

“Big guy with your big fucking beach ball! Ooh, I’m so scared of you, so thrilled by you! What a fucking douchebag!” Manson said, though it’s obviously way better to watch her say it than read this transcription.

Nevertheless, she added, “We’re fed up of not getting fucking paid properly and fed up of having to play for douchebags like you. You’re a fucking middle-aged man in a fucking ridiculous hat, and you’re a fucking fuckface. And I want, literally, to ask people to fucking punch you in the fucking face. But you know what? I’m a lady, so I won’t.” 

Manson proceeded to double the fuck down on her tirade on social media after the show. On Threads, she said she would make “NO APOLOGIES” for hating on beach balls, noting that the very reason she joined a band was because she “HATED THE FUCKING BEACH” and wanted to “listen to Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Cure and be dark and beautiful.”

Manson continued: “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.” 

Garbage recently wrapped what they described as their “last” North American headlining tour, writing on social media that “it is unlikely we will play many of the cities on this tour ever again.” The band’s current Australian run will continue through the month, with additional dates in the U.K. scheduled in 2026.