LIVE! | Marilyn Manson & Rob Zombie

by Christophe Pauly
- Photojournalist –

December 1, 2012 at Rockhal, Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg –

Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie joint headlining tour, “Twins Of Evil,” travels across North America and Europe. Korn’s Jonathan Davis opens the shows with a DJ appearing as his ‘alter ego’ J. Devil. Photojournalist Christophe Pauly caught up with the tour in Luxembourg.

Marilyn Manson set list:
Hey, Cruel World…
Disposable Teens
The Love Song
No Reflection
mOBSCENE
The Dope Show (with snippet of ‘Happiness is … more)
Slo-Mo-Tion
Rock Is Dead
Personal Jesus (Depeche Mode cover)
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (Eurythmics cover)
Coma White
King Kill 33°
Antichrist Superstar
Encore:
The Beautiful People

Rob Zombie Set List:
Jesus Frankenstein
Superbeast
Meet the Creeper
Living Dead Girl
More Human Than Human (White Zombie song)
Theme for an Angry Red Planet
Mars Needs Women
Drum Solo
Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)
Sick Bubble-Gum
Scum of the Earth
Pussy Liquor
Thunder Kiss ’65 (White Zombie song)
Guitar Solo
School’s Out (Alice Cooper cover)
Encore:
Dragula

Marilyn Manson & Rob Zombie Concert Photo Gallery

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LIVE! | Marilyn Manson

by Alissa Ordabai
- Senior Columnist –

July 5, 2012 at Brixton Academy, London, United Kingdom

He came, he saw, he performed, and – presumably – has already left town, also leaving us to ponder how a chubby, stilted cat with awkward stage moves, who can’t sing, doesn’t play an instrument, and isn’t much of a songwriter, to this day sells out theaters and arenas, still upholding his status of one of the biggest stars in the history of rock.

And before anyone says that the phenomenon of Marilyn Manson simply shows what rock has fallen into, there is still – despite the superficial theatricality – something earnest and profound about the non-musician who 18 years ago became the über-goth, the ultimate punk, and the direct heir of the mystics, the dabblers, the provocateurs, the dandies, and the visionaries of the dawn of the 20th century. To this day, after the shock value has long worn off, and satiation, boredom, and time have taken their toll on Manson’s output – there still remains that murky, uncomfortable truth at the bottom of his act, the deeply disquieting reality which is at once haunting and fascinating.

As tonight’s sold-out gig has shown, the continuing attraction may not be about the songwriting or the musicianship, but it’s not about the visuals either. This evening’s set design was conventional by Manson’s own rules, and mildly irksome by the standards of today’s corporate rock. The Nazi-inspired pulpit he sang “Antichrist Superstar” from, the ’70s disco curtain lights which occasionally lit up the backdrop, the chichi poses with an umbrella under the falling fake snow, and the dagger-shaped mic were nothing we haven’t seen at a Manson show before. If anything, this time the production – although slickly sharp – was a shadow of his OTT visual extrapolations of the past.

But even now, when the goose-stepping, the costumes, the flagrant glam gestures, and the rhetoric don’t shock anymore, Manson’s act still manages to get under your skin, no matter how unspontaneously he goes through all constructed motions, as he did tonight. No matter how smoothly Mason rolls along the well-oiled track, there is still that primordial, deeply unsettling truth he continues to channel right from the sea floor of our collective psyche. And there is still that feeling that he knows things we don’t speak about, and not only knows, but can foresee what would happen if knowledge turned into action, constantly hinting that it eventually will.

A plain vocalist – to put it mildly – who obstinately defied the expectations of the industry by refusing to learn how to sing, Mason manages to get through to us precisely through this artlessness – bypassing the craft and going straight for the gut.

Having refused – in a similar way – to learn an instrument, or to take songwriting lessons, he just about manages to make his music support his act. The end result is a strange equilibrium – always on the verge of a fall – between his at times gut-wrenching, and at times hypnotic voice, the basic ostinato riffs, and the musicianship of his band purposefully reduced to the bare essentials.

In a rational world none of this should have worked – and often it doesn’t – but Manson’s act is all about this kind of absurdity. His contempt for his audience endears him to those who can’t stand hypocrisy in their rock stars, his refusal to learn a musician’s craft makes us re-think what music should, can, or is expected to be. And his contrived theatricality is – paradoxically – the ultimate honesty one can expect from a rock star.

Nobody knows what the rock scene would have become if Cobain lived, but as things have panned out, it was left for Manson to define, to scare, and to scorn the generation which still upholds him as its most representative artist. And he did it with the same degree of honesty that Cobain has always had – having gone 360 degrees from where Nirvana have started to arrive at the same zero ground where no options are left but to lay it all on the line. And stuff done this way never gets old, regardless how familiar the props, the wardrobe, or the tunes are becoming with time.

Set List:
1. Hey, Cruel World
2. Disposable Teens
3. The Love Song
4. No Reflection
5. mOBSCENE
6. The Dope Show
7. Slo-Mo-Tion
8. Rock is Dead
9. Personal Jesus
10. Pistol Whipped
11. Tourniquet
12. Irresponsible Hate Anthem
13. Sweet dreams (are made of this)
14. Antichrist Superstar
15. Beautiful People

LIVE! | Soundwave Festival 2012

by Cameron Edney
Guest Staff Writer –

February 26, 2012 at Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia

Soundwave Festival presents metal bands that make the rounds to three regions of Australia. It features a number of international and Australian music acts, from various genres including rock, metal and punk.

Bands appearing at this years event included: System of a Down, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Marilyn Manson, A Day To Remember, Bush, Machine Head, Lamb of God, Mastodon, Trivium, Alter Bridge, Devin Townsend Project, Dillinger Escape Plan, Black Label Society, Steel Panther, Meshuggah, Paradise Lost, Shadows Fall, Hatebreed, Biohazard, In This Moment, Kittie, Cherri Bomb…

Locations for the event:
Brisbane, 25 February 2012, RNA Showgrounds
Sydney, 26 February 2012, Olympic Park
Melbourne, 2 March 2012, Melbourne Showgrounds
Adelaide, 3 March 2012, Bonython Park
Perth, 5 March 2012, Claremont Showgrounds

Soundwave Festival 2012 Photo Gallery

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Mayhem Festival Live!

August 7, 2009 at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ

by Steve trager
Staff Writer

Fans of pure metal have found themselves with the newest edition of summer festivals simply called Mayhem Festival. It is similar to one the greatest tours ever to roam across America, which is “Ozzfest.” Mayhem Festival certainly has kept the doors opened to one of the best-known genres in music, which is Heavy Metal. Last year’s initial run with Mayhem was an indication that we can still rock out in the hardest way with some of the greatest bands on three stages for one decent priced ticket.

This year’s Mayhem Festival definitely cranked up the word “Heavy” with a brutal line-up that turned most pits into total chaos during such sets like Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, Trivium and God Forbid.

The nice feature about Mayhem Festival is that you have three stages, loads of music, and rockstar bling for those who always want to make a fashion statement to the rest of the world. Last year’s festival had a great line-up that could have very well been just a one-time slot of Mayhem. But the response from last year brings us to the second annual Mayhem festival. It featured great sets from well-known artists like veteran thrashers Slayer and the rock shock anti-Christ himself, Marilyn Manson, who closed out the main stage.

For most of us who endure the heavier side of metal, there were bands like Job for A Cowboy, WhiteChapel and Behemoth that can grab your attention once the music kicks in. Everyone likes something different when it comes to music in general. While I might dislike some of the bands that played on the Hot Topic stage, it still was an incredible experience to see a long list of bands that certainly hold the record for mosh mayhem.

Perhaps each set could have been longer for bands like God Forbid, Trivium, All that Remains, and Bullet for My Valentine, which opened the main stage, the fans still get the packing punch we have always come to expect at a metal show.

I still have to give props to Killswitch Engage for their stage attire at a metal show. Even dressed slightly unusual for head bangers delight, front man Howard Jones still has that voice that can go through you like a lighting bolt. I especially enjoyed Dio’s “Holy Diver“ cover, which was filled with anger and great guitar work and the balls-to-the-wall vocals makes that ‘80s classic truly come alive as only Killswitch can do so well live.

Slayer also out did a great show, captivating their finest works as an old-school thrash band that they are. Slayer is a true metal band that has never changed its sound and never has sold out for radio success but has kept a cult following all these years in the true genre of pure metal. Even Manson played a great quick set; however, I am not much of a big fan. Music fans always like something different, and that makes them unique. This is an indication that Mayhem Festival will be around for a long time (we can all hope).

The Great: Bullet for My Valentine, All That Remains, Killswitch Engage, Trivium, God Forbid, and Slayer.

Hot Topic / Extreme Metal Stage:
WhiteChapel
Black Dahlia Murder
Job for A Cowboy
Behemoth
Cannibal Corpse

Jagermeister Music Stage:
Beyond The Star
God Forbid
All That Remains
Trivium

Rockstar Energy Drink Main Stage
Bullet For My Valentine
Killswitch Engage
Slayer
Marilyn Manson

Mayhem Festival 2009 Photo Gallery

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Mayhem Festival Live!

August 4, 2009 at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Mass.

by Deb Rao
Staff Writer

The 2009 Rockstar Energy Drink invaded the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Mass., on Aug. 4. As temperatures soared into the high 80s, fans gathered early in the parking lot to witness the most cutting edge event of the summer. 2009 Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival is a modern day festival designed for today’s music fan with many diverse booths that included merchandise booths and tattoo booths. 2009 Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival showcased the top talent in the music industry today, and also featured one of the most iconic bands in metal history Slayer.

The Boston 2009 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival featured three stages: Main Stage, Hot Topic and Jagermeister Stage. What was clearly exciting to witness was the wide age span of fans that gathered for the event. The bill featured a vast array of musical talent and styles, which included on the main stage Marilyn Manson, Slayer, Boston’s Killswitch Engage, and Bullet For My Valentine.

The Hot Topic and Jagermeister stages featured cutting-edge bands that are truly making an impact in music today. One of the first bands I checked out was Behemoth at 3 p.m. Behemoth hit the Hot Topic stage for an energetic 30-minute set and capped their performance with “I Got Erection.”

Behemoth Set List:
Slaves Shall Serve
At The Left Hand Of God
Conquer All
Demigod
Ov Fire And The Void
Chant For Exhaton 2000
I Got Erection

The Boston Mayhem Festival featured a special Boston homegrown ambiance appeal this year with the homecoming of two New England bands that are making an impact in the music industry today, All That Remains and Killswitch Engage. Also while checking out the All That Remains set, I ran into Shadows fall vocalist Brian Fair, who informed us that the new Shadows Fall release Retribution will be out on Sept. 15. ” Shadows Fall will be doing a special signing at the Mayhem Festival at 3 p.m. on Aug. 8 in Hartford, Conn., at the Comcast Theatre. I can’t wait for the release of Retribution. It is aggressive and awesome. After the album is released, we will be setting up some New England dates,” Fair said.

All That Remains is a band that hails from the Springfield, Mass., area. ATR hit the Jagermeister Stage at 4:30 p.m. and performed an exhilarating 30-minute set to a huge crowd of Boston fans that featured three new songs off of their latest release, Overcome including “Chiron,” “Forever In Your Hands,” and “Two Weeks.” Lead singer Phillip Labonte cheered the crowd on, as he yelled,”We are from the area.”

Bassist Jeanne Sagan commented to me,”It is always bittersweet to play Boston and come home. I have been on the road most of the year. It is pretty amazing playing at the Mayhem Festival this year. We are from the Springfield area.

“Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall are all around the same area also. We just put out a second single ‘Forever In Your Hands’ that is being added to radio now. We are going to shoot a video for it during this tour actually in a few days. On Overcome, we concentrated more on writing songs rather than parts. We kind of put stuff together and took a step back and looked at it and how does this make this song catchy for people so people can grasp onto to rather than a lot of just filler in the song. So that is pretty much how we went about it.”

All That Remains Set List:
This Calling
Chiron
Forever In Your Hands
Six
The Air That I Breathe
Undone
Two Weeks

Killswitch Engage hit the stage at 7:25 p.m. and managed to the get crowd pumped up for Slayer. Singer Adam Dutkiewicz, wearing a Red Sox cap, gave reference to the band’s heritage in Boston through out the entire set and joked as he commented, “Our drummer is a Yankees fan,” and inspired the Yankees chant to begin. Killswitch Engage took the stage amidst a blast of pyrotechnic opening with “My Last Serenade.” The highlight of the set was “Rose Of Sharyn.”

Killswitch Engage Set List:
My Last Serenade
Reckoning
Fixation On The Darkness
Rose Of Sharyn
Starting Over
A Bid Farewell
My Curse
The End Of Heartache

At 8:30 p.m., one of the first bands that put metal on the map, Slayer took the stage in true metallic thunder. Anticipation filled the air, as the crowd waited patiently all day to witness the legendary metal band.

Opening with “Darkness Of Christ” the Slayer set spanned their extensive career and also showcased some of their older classic songs. Slayer will be releasing a new album later this year entitled, World Painted Blood, and they performed a new song off of the upcoming album entitled, “Psychopathy Red,” which re-enforced the old-school metal roots of the band.

Singer Tom Araya belted out the songs with much passion. It was clear to see that Slayer was there to destroy and inflict their powerful fury onto the masses as guitarist Kerry King relentlessly unleashed skull-crushing riffs. Highlights of the Slayer set included “Ghosts Of War” and “South Of Heaven.”

When I asked Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo about the rehearsal preparation of the Mayhem Tour and his thoughts on the challenge of performing live versus recording in the studio and the upcoming release World Painted Blood, drummer Dave Lombardo said to me,” It is only challenging like the first maybe two or three days in rehearsal, where you are shedding all of the cobwebs that you have accumulated probably in six months of not touring. But then we were in the studio but that is not the same.

“So the hardest part is the first couple days of rehearsal. There really is no challenge. World Painted Blood is absolutely amazing. I have never been behind a record as much as I have been for this one. I am very proud of it and very happy. It’s all good. Hope everyone’s goes out and gets it,” Lombardo said.

Slayer Set List:
Darkness Of Christ
Disciple
War Ensemble
Jihad
Psychopathy Red
Born Of Fire
Mandatory Suicide
Chemical Warfare
Ghosts Of War
Dead Skin Mask
Hell Awaits
Angel Of Death
South Of Heaven
Raining Blood

Marilyn Manson capped the evening performance. It was great to see a lot of Marilyn’s fans show up early for the concert. It was a long day for them. I spoke to two young fans who braved the heat and traveled an hour and arrived when the gates opened to see the performer. Marilyn’s set included three new songs off his latest release The High End Of Low, as he opened the set with “We’re From America” and capped his performance with “The Beautiful Creatures.”

Marilyn Manson Set List:
We’re From America
Disposable Teens
Little Horn
Irresponsible Hate Anthem
Four Rusted Horses
Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin-Geddon
The Dope Show
Rock Is Dead
Tourniquet
Sweet Dreams
The Beautiful People

Marilyn Manson The High End Of Low

by Jay Villain
Staff Writer

One word that can be used to describe Marilyn Manson’s latest release, The High End Of Low, is ambitious. It is a good CD; however, it’s not his best work. Ambitious comes to mind because it’s clear he is still committed and cares about the product he’s producing. Marilyn Manson hasn’t sold out by aborting his musical style, but it’s obvious that he is experimenting with some different elements within the disc.

The High End Of Low offers a semi-diverse selection of 15 songs. Having too many songs on one disc sometimes can be detrimental. Whenever an artist releases that many songs on one CD, it’s not likely all of them will be hits, although there are some that stand out. The CD doesn’t start off very strong at all. “Devour” gets the ball rolling and seems to crawl to a climax. Guitar with distortion and drums don’t kick in until two minutes and 35 seconds into the song and only lasts for about a minute before going back to the crawling intro. Luckily, things start looking up with “Pretty as a ($),” which musters all the hatred one would expect from Marilyn Manson. “Leave A Scar” is a groove-oriented song with a catchy and very memorable chorus.

For something completely different, there is the very unique “Four Rusted Horses.” The use of acoustic guitar throughout gives this song the feel of a gothic western. Maybe Manson is onto something here. “Arma-Godd**N-Motherf**kin-Geddon” is perhaps the peak of this CD. This song is written with all the elements that we’ve come to expect from Manson. Reflecting back to his classics, “Arma-Godd**N-Motherf**kin-Geddon” has a nice hook, and it’s heavy and full of groove.

“Blank And White” maintains the aggression and brings us to something unexpected: “Running To The Edge Of The World.” This is a song that takes the listener back to the great power ballads of the ‘70s, not the ‘80s. With an acoustic guitar, “Running To The Edge Of The World” is mood setting and nicely structured. Unfortunately, things start going downhill from here.

“I Want To Kill You Like They Do In The Movies” starts off with a very attractive bass line, but the song seems to be a bit droning, especially after nine minutes. When, in fact, the point could have been made in half the time. “Wow” is definitely the lowest point on this CD. It comes across like a pseudo-rap song with a hideous programmed disco clap throughout. “Wight Spider” and “Unkillable Monster” aren’t nearly as questionable, but they still don’t make you want to go back and hear them again and again.

What saves the end of this CD is the punk-influenced “We’re From America.” This track maintains its energy from start to finish and sounds even better when played loud. “I Have To Look Up Just To See Hell,” “Into The Fire” and “15″ aren’t very strong following “We’re From America.” Overall, The High End Of Low isn’t very shocking coming from someone who’s known for shock rock. Diehard fans will embrace this CD, but it’s not likely Marilyn Manson will gain any new fans from this effort.

www.marilynmanson.com

Manson on MySpace

Track listing:
1. Devour
2. Pretty As A ($)
3. Leave A Scar
4. Four Rusted Horses
5. Arma-Godd**N-Motherf**kin-Geddon
6. Blank And White
7. Running To The Edge Of The World
8. I Want To Kill You Like They Do In The Movies
9. Wow
10. Wight Spider
11. Unkillable Monster
12. We’re From America
13 I Have To Look Up Just To See Hell
14. Into The Fire
15. 15

Hardrock Haven rating 5/10