Girls Gone Wild.

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Author: Scaggs, AustinClinch, Danny

And the women shall lead them: Backstage with Garbage, No Doubt and the Distillers

USUALLY THE ROAD IS ALL TESTOSterone,” says Garbage's Shirley Manson. Not this time. For almost two months, Garbage have been on tour with No Doubt and L.A. punk upstarts the Distillers �" three bands fronted by women. “I wanted some gorgeous-smelling scents in the corridors, and some beauty and comfort,” says Manson, who gives us a backstage peek at the ladyfest's stop at Long Island's Nassau Coliseum.

See exclusive live shots of No Doubt, Garbage and the Distillers at rollingstone.com/photos

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Shirley Manson, Garbage's queen bee

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Gwen Stefani, punk-pop diva

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Vodka and Other Pre-Show Rituals: Manson and Garbage guitarist Duke Erikson share a pre-show cocktail. “I don't drink as much as the rest of the band,” she says, “but I think I had a little vodka there. One way or another, Duke winds me up until my energy levels are screaming at ten. He'll make me laugh hysterically, to where I'm ready to rocket off into orbit.”

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): The No Doubt Crew: Gwen Stefani, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young (from left) head toward the stage. “Tony's shy and quiet and really sweet,” says Manson. “But Adrian is an insane exhibitionist.”

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Dressing the Fans: Manson donated her feather boa to the girl on the far right: “I always give my boa away. Sometimes to a little girl crying, sometimes to a weird little cross-dressing boy to top off his act.”

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Adrian Young Exposed: He Stuffs His Crotch!: Young is known for his outrageous stage garb �" and for stripping it off to play nude when the spirit moves him. “He sometimes prances into our dressing room for outfit approval before shows,” says Manson. “He has the tiniest buttocks I've ever seen, and they're always squeezed into a pair of little panties. And he stuffs his crotch with socks. He cut out holes in that gorgeous little baby-doll dress where his strawberry nipples would poke through. I think a real man can wear a dress and not feel threatened. Forthat, I licked his nipples.”

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Butch and the Brothers Dickle: Garbage drummer Butch Vig warms up backstage. “Butch also plays in a side project called the Dickie Brothers, with our band and crew,” Manson says. “They dress up in mullet wigs on days off, find a local bar and do Seventies-rock covers that involve a lot of really cheesy guitar solos and getting really drunk. They do Abba songs, too. We all have Dickie names. I'm Debbie Dickie �" the Dickie groupie who just gives blow jobs and wears really short skirts.”

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Rockin' Since Fifteen: “When we're not on the road together,” says Manson, “Gwen and I e-mail each other. We just bullshit. We piss and moan, talk about neuroses and swap doctors. There's a lot of mutual respect and empathy. We come from similar backgrounds: She's played in bands since she was fifteen, like I did, and we both became frontwomen almost by default. We gravitated toward each other because there are so few girls out there doing things the way Gwen and I have done them.”

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Gwenna-be's Swarm: Tony Kanal poses outside Nassau Coliseum with one of the many Gwen Stefanl look-alikes who flock to No Doubt shows. “Gwenna best” says Manson. “When you're driving up to a gig, you see them all waiting outside. Hundreds ofthem. Some ofthem look so much like Gwen that I almost do a double take. Sometimes I think, ‘Is Gwen fucking with me tonight?’ I wouldn't put it past her.”

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Rock Girls' Hair Tips: For Manson, one tour highlight has been hanging with Distillers front woman Brody Armstrong: “She's got a beautiful, fierce voice. We had immediate brain-meld from the second we met She's even taken to calling me her wife. That day, she was spiking up her mohawk into what she calls liberty spikes. My hair is in an awkward stage. If you flipped me upside down, you could clean toilets with my head.”

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Story By Austin Scaggs and Danny Clinch; Photos By