Stadtpark Open Air, Hamburg, Germany11th June 2026
Garbage & Special Guest: Karen Dió
GARBAGE returned to Hamburg with a concert that very quickly became more than just an open-air show. At Stadtpark Open Air, the evening turned into a full rain drama: heavy drops, ponchos everywhere, wet faces, worried cameras, and that particular Hamburg feeling that the sky might simply never stop. The weather forecast had warned of possible showers and thunderstorms in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, but what happened during the show felt much bigger, louder, and more cinematic.
At first, I thought: please, not like NENA here at Stadtpark. But the rain was even stronger this time. At some point, standing there with the camera under constant attack from the water, I simply accepted it: well, buying a new camera is already on the plan anyway. And after all, I had dreamed for so long of making portraits of Shirley Manson. GARBAGE are not just another band - they are one of those bands from childhood, from MTV, from the era when music videos could become part of your personal mythology.
KAREN DIÓ opened the evening under a completely different sky. During her set, Stadtpark was still filled with bright sunshine, and for a moment it almost felt like a perfect summer open-air evening. Her raw Punk energy, direct stage presence, and restless drive worked brilliantly in that golden light, giving the crowd a sharp and lively start before the mood of the day changed completely. Only later, almost suddenly, dark clouds rushed in over the venue, the rain arrived with full force, and the evening turned into the wet battlefield that GARBAGE would have to conquer.
Karen Dió
KAREN DIÓ is a Brazilian-born Punk / Alternative Rock artist now based in the UK, often associated with the spirit of Latin Riot Grrrl. She first came from the Brazilian underground Rock scene, including her earlier work with VIOLET SODA, and later built a solo identity around short, explosive, attitude-heavy songs such as ‘Sick Ride’, ‘My World’, ‘Cut Your Hair’ and ‘Stupid’. What makes KAREN DIÓ especially noticeable is her mix of raw Punk energy, playful sarcasm, feminist anger and strong visual character: her music speaks about self-expression, misogyny, freedom, queer and feminist communities, and the right to be loud without asking permission. In recent years she has attracted serious attention in the international Rock scene, with support slots and recognition connected to names such as SUM 41 and LIMP BIZKIT, while Kerrang! described her as one of the bright new voices in Rock. https://karendio.com
Music & Performance
KAREN DIÓ opened the evening before GARBAGE with a sharp, energetic Punk / Alternative Rock set that immediately gave Stadtpark its first proper dose of drive. At that moment the weather was still on the audience’s side: the sun was shining brightly, adding a warm open-air feeling to the performance, even if the hard light made photographing the vocalist a little tricky. But the music itself was pure movement - fast, loud, direct, and full of attitude.
The set started with ‘Euphoria’ and quickly moved into ‘My World’, ‘Stupid’ and ‘Cut Your Hair’, showing exactly what makes KAREN DIÓ so effective live: short explosive songs, raw guitar energy, catchy choruses, and a rebellious stage presence that feels both playful and confrontational. ‘Stupid’ sounded especially punchy, full of sarcasm and youthful anger, while ‘Cut Your Hair’ brought one of the most memorable and catchy moments of the performance.
With ‘So Funny’, ‘Poor Man’, ‘I Hope You Know It’s Not Me’ and ‘Bexy’, KAREN DIÓ kept the pace high, moving confidently across the stage and engaging the crowd with a mix of humour, Punk directness and strong personality. Her cover of Chappell Roan’s ‘Casual’ added a surprising and fun twist to the set, before ‘I Wanna Be’, ‘Buy My Merch’ and ‘Do It’ pushed everything back into loud, self-aware Rock energy.
By the final songs, ‘3am’ and ‘Sick Ride’, KAREN DIÓ had fully warmed up the audience for the headliner. It was not just a polite support slot, but a compact and very lively performance with plenty of drive, attitude and sunlit chaos. She left the stage with the crowd ready, just before the atmosphere over Stadtpark changed completely and the dark clouds began to gather for GARBAGE.
Garbage
GARBAGE are a Scottish-American Alternative Rock band built around Shirley Manson, Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker. The project took shape in Madison in the early 1990s, with Manson joining after Marker saw her in the ANGELFISH video for ‘Suffocate Me’. From there, GARBAGE developed a sound that was immediately recognizable: guitars, electronic textures, trip-hop shadows, pop hooks, industrial details, and Manson’s voice cutting through it all with elegance, danger, irony, and emotional precision.
Their story is also inseparable from MTV. By 2026, that memory had become even more symbolic: Paramount shut down several MTV music channels in Europe - including MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live - by 31 December 2025. It was not exactly the end of MTV as a name, but it did feel like the closing of a very particular music-video era. And GARBAGE were absolutely one of the bands of that era. Their videos for songs such as ‘Only Happy When It Rains’, ‘Stupid Girl’, ‘Push It’, ‘I Think I’m Paranoid’, ‘Special’, ‘When I Grow Up’ and ‘Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)’ belonged to a time when a clip on MTV could define the image of a band forever.
‘Stupid Girl’ reached No. 4 in the UK, while ‘Push It’ and ‘I Think I’m Paranoid’ both reached No. 9; overall, GARBAGE have six UK Top 10 singles and sixteen UK Top 40 singles. The band’s visual and musical impact was recognized early: ‘Stupid Girl’ received Grammy nominations, Version 2.0 was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album, and ‘Special’ later received Grammy nominations as well. ‘Push It’ also became one of the great MTV-era visual statements, receiving eight nominations at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, while ‘Special’ won Best Special Effects at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. https://www.garbage.com
Music & Performance
When GARBAGE finally appeared, the rain did not calm down. It became part of the concert. The lights caught the falling water, the stage looked blurred and cinematic, and the audience became a dark sea of ponchos. Shirley Manson immediately understood the absurd beauty of the situation. She laughed at all of us - lovingly, of course - because we looked so miserable and soaked. “Oh guys, it looks like there is a real swimming pool here. You are all in the pool,” she joked, before adding how much she appreciated everyone for being there. It was funny because it was true: Stadtpark had become a pool, and still nobody wanted to leave.
The set opened with ‘There’s No Future in Optimism’, one of the new songs from Let All That We Imagine Be the Light. In the rain, the title sounded almost too perfect. But live, the song did not feel hopeless; it felt like a clear-eyed refusal to pretend that everything is fine. The new album, released in 2025, was described by Shirley Manson as an attempt to look for something hopeful and uplifting despite darkness, and that tension was very present in Hamburg.
‘Hold’ continued the new-album mood with more emotional weight, before ‘Empty’ from Strange Little Birds brought the first deep wave of desolation. Then came ‘I Think I’m Paranoid’, and suddenly the whole place was back in the late 1990s: nervous, glamorous, sharp, and danceable. ‘Stupid Girl’ followed soon after and landed like a memory that had never lost its teeth. It was one of those moments when childhood, MTV, old bedrooms, old headphones and the present rain in Hamburg all collided at once.
‘Right Between the Eyes’ and ‘Vow’ brought a harder, more confrontational edge. ‘Vow’, from the debut album Garbage, still sounds dangerous - a song that introduced GARBAGE as something stylish but not safe. ‘No Horses’, later in the set, added a darker political atmosphere, heavy and apocalyptic, before the mood shifted beautifully with ‘Lovesong’, the THE CURE cover. In that weather, ‘Lovesong’ felt less like a cover and more like a fragile shelter: romantic, strange, and a little ghostly.
The middle part of the concert moved between new material and older emotional pressure points. ‘Have We Met (The Void)’ opened a more atmospheric space, while ‘Control’ from Not Your Kind of People brought back the band’s colder, more obsessive side. ‘Chinese Fire Horse’ was one of the strongest new songs live: fierce, proud, and completely suited to Shirley Manson’s current stage persona. She has spoken about the song in connection with ageism and the idea that others expect women in music to step aside; in Hamburg, the answer was obvious - she will decide when she is done, and she is very clearly not done.
Shirley herself was magnetic. She still has that strange Barbie-like perfection, but not in a sweet or fragile way — more like a dark Rock Barbie with knives hidden behind the smile. Her hair, movements, facial expressions and gestures were theatrical, controlled and full of attitude. And honestly, age seemed completely irrelevant. When someone performs with that level of professionalism, timing, humour and command, numbers stop meaning much. She owned the stage, the rain, the audience, and even the chaos.
The final part of the main set became more direct and explosive. ‘Boys Wanna Fight’ hit with rough Rock energy, while ‘Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)’ brought colour and glitter into the grey weather. ‘When I Grow Up’ was pure GARBAGE Pop irony - bright on the surface, full of bite underneath. Then ‘Push It’ arrived like one of the defining transmissions from the MTV years: aggressive, electronic, stylish, and still absolutely effective live.
‘The Day That I Met God’ closed the main set with a more serious and spiritual tone. It is one of the most intense songs from Let All That We Imagine Be the Light, and live it felt like a strange prayer at the end of a storm. After all the noise, all the rain and all the sarcasm, the song created a moment of heaviness and reflection before the band left the stage.
For the encore, GARBAGE returned with ‘Special’, one of their most elegant and bittersweet songs. It was a perfect late-evening moment: melancholic, grand, and still full of that old futuristic shine. And then, of course, came ‘Only Happy When It Rains’. There could not have been a more ironic or more perfect ending. Nobody in the audience looked especially happy in the rain - wet ponchos, cold hands, tired faces - but when that song started, everyone understood the joke. The weather had finally become part of the setlist.
By the end, GARBAGE had turned a difficult evening into something memorable. The rain was brutal, the photography conditions were almost impossible, and the audience looked like survivors of a small festival disaster. But the band sounded powerful, Shirley Manson was extraordinary, and the whole concert had the kind of atmosphere that cannot be planned. Sometimes a show becomes unforgettable not despite the weather, but because of it.
Setlist
01. There’s No Future in Optimism
02. Hold
03. Empty
04. I Think I'm Paranoid
05. Stupid Girl
06. Right Between the Eyes
07. Vow
08. No Horses
09. Lovesong (The Cure cover)
10. Have We Met (The Void)
11. Control
12. Chinese Fire Horse
13. Boys Wanna Fight
14. Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)
15. When I Grow Up
16. Push It
17. The Day That I Met God
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18. Special
19. Only Happy When It Rains
All Pictures by Iryna Kalenska
