Skunk Anansie and Garbage at Southampton Summer Sessions: Two bands still at the top of their game

While both bands had their commercial peak in that era – Garbage’s first two albums sold 4m apiece, Skunk Anansie closed Glastonbury’s main stage in 1999 – neither has slipped into the easy groove of being a nostalgia act.

Both are plugging recent albums which feature strongly in their respective sets.

This is the final night of a joint-headlining tour, billed as part of the outdoor Summer Sessions in Southampton’s Guildhall Square. They’ve been alternating who goes on first, so we get Garbage up first.

On a stage facing into the setting sun, frontwoman Shirley Manson tries to make light of the fact that as someone who grew up as a goth in Scotland, she’s not used to sunlight, but she is visibly struggling with the stifling heat.

However, that doesn’t stop her from giving her all. They open with a pair of tracks from that new album – There’s No Future in Optimism and Hold. But it’s not until they hark back to those halcyon days that the close-to-capacity crowd noticeably perks up, I Think I'm Paranoid and Stupid Girl – both top 10 singles – seriously up the ante.

We also get their recently minted cover of The Cure’s Lovesong, which provides a rare tender moment.

By the time we reach I’m Only Happy When It Rains – satirising the 90s’ trend for angst which ironically became an anthem itself – Manson apologises for needing to sit on the drum riser to sing it as she is wilting.

However there’s a mid-song stage invasion by Skunk Anansie, brandishing umbrellas and handing out shots of something, bringing the song to a raucous finale.

There’s very obvious camaraderie and mutual respect between the two bands – both Manson and Skunk’s frontwoman Skin reference it.

By the time Skunk take the stage, the sun has dipped below the guildhall opposite and the band are in no mood to take prisoners – immediately hitting us with two of their heaviest numbers – This Means War and Charlie Big Potato.

For those who think politics has no place in music, a) you’re wrong, and b) this is not the show for you. Manson makes reference to her band’s political affinity to Skunk during their set, and the point is made explicitly – in every sense – with a blistering Yes, It’s F-ing Political by the latter band. The chorus is chanted gleefully by the audience.

It’s not until Skin praises us halfway through their set for making the right choice in coming to the gig instead of watching the football that I even remembered England were playing against Ghana.

For early single I Can Dream she climbs into the crowd, getting up close and sweaty with her adoring fans, carrying a cam which is live streaming to the giant screen at the back of the stage. When they finally let her go, Skin crowd-surfs her way back out.

They also showcase their softer side with a goosebump-inducing Weak (no mean feat in this heat), and Hedonism is largely given over to the crowd to sing.

The former also gives Skin a chance to show off her astounding vocal range.

They forego leaving the stage for encores as they’re running up to a strict curfew, but we get a mean take on AC/DC’s Highway to Hell before finishing with Intellectualise My Blackness.

While all of the men involved are excellent musicians, it’s the band’s respective frontwomen who are the main focus of attention throughout. There’s a good reason the pair of them have become inspirational figures.

But to see two of our finest frontpeople together on the same bill is a rare treat.

As they head off, amid the cheers, Skin shouts, almost as an aside: “By the way, it’s 0-0.”

We definitely made the right choice.