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The Church of Marilyn Manson

Few of today's music icons will ever reach the artistic heights, influence and prowess of Marilyn Manson. The ever-evolving, gender-defying singer, who is inspired by a glam-Goth aesthetic, thrives on challenging the status-quo with his latest theatrical and musical expressions of sex, death, and mutilation. Currently he is taking the best of his biggest hits, his past live shows and staging Wednesday night (10/27), Manson's Against All Gods tour kicked off in (where else?) Las Vegas, with great aplomb. The tour is timed to support his recent greatest hits album, Lest We Forget: The Best of Marilyn Manson , with its surprise hit single, and insanely brilliant cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus".

When Manson took to the stage, at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, the crowd was upset and yelling obscenities, as many had been waiting for more than two hours for the band to play and rumors had been circulating that they might not show up at all. Then, close to 9:30pm, the dark stage curtain slowly opened as Manson, who stood silent for a moment, appeared dressed in a signature black bondage-inspired outfit. As soon as he began to sing the creepy opening track of his new release "The Love Song" (about violence and the government), followed by "Hate Anthem" (from Antichrist Superstar ), all was forgiven. Manson's latest muse and fiancé, Dita Von Teese, the famous burlesque dancer, elegantly loomed in a small, hidden room above the stage as she carefully watched his every move.

Manson's shows have always been more like a Goth-rock opera (with touches of industrial effects and sounds) than a straight up concert. The music and staging are matched by his many outrageous costumes and stage make-up. But for a rock opera, you need a cast of characters. On this night, Manson was joined onstage by the band's original keyboardist, Pogo, long-time bassist Tim Skold, new guitarist Mark Chaussee, and drummer, Chris Vrenna, who is filling in for Ginger Fish (who was seriously injured in a fall from his drum kit at the VIVA Comet Awards in Germany last month). Vrenna, a powerful drummer formerly of Nine Inch Nails, fit in with ease, probably since he played on Manson's first two albums, Portrait of an American Family and Antichrist Superstar , as well has having toured alongside Manson in the Nine Inch Nails days where Manson was the opening band.

Whether your favorite Manson stunts include his performance on stilts, the one where he sings from behind a pulpit invoking images of a dictator, the raining confetti, or if this was your first-ever Marilyn Manson show, you could not ignore the intensity of the hard rocking performance where fans, many of them dressed like Manson, stood and sang loudly along in reverence. In a time when our culture is bombarding us with fear rhetoric and tactics, Marilyn Manson looms large, appearing fearless at all times. Add that to his commitment to blast stereotypes in every direction, and you have someone who is feared by those who govern society. That is just one reason why those in the audience, from ages 14-44, embraced Manson's outrageous props and propositions from pretending to have sex with his microphone to crawling on the ground like a stalked animal. But it is not the admiration that motivates him. It is the act of making sure that nothing remains sacred so that all idols are destroyed (including himself), which forces people to think for themselves. This is what appears to frighten outsiders about Marilyn Manson, as he is blamed in mainstream media for everything from the tragic shootings in Columbine, CO, to kids taking drugs in the suburbs.

On this night, in his latest theatrical incarnation, Manson confidently took his time ripping through tracks with his visceral vocals on the swaggering "Dope Show", the sinister, "mOBSCENE" and the covers he recreates oh-so-well ("Tainted Love", "Sweet Dreams", "Personal Jesus"). In a way, it was an affirmation that no matter who is in power, Manson will be there standing in the shadows reminding us that personal expression and not giving into other people's ideas of who we should be will always reign over authority. Isn't that what artists like Bauhaus, David Bowie and Pink Floyd have always done?

-Kim Taylor
October 29, 2004

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