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Sobriety as a Cosmic Ritual

In a recent podcast interview about narcissistic abuse, Evan Rachel Wood said that Marilyn Manson described in his autobiography how the Brian Warner part of him was dead and whatever he had become was now his true self. Her purpose was to show that Manson completely abandoned his humanity and truly came to embody a disassociated narcissistic monster. But is this what his autobiography actually said or even implied? No, of course not. He says something along those lines, but she completely twists it to make a point that fits her narrative rather than the actual facts.  What Manson actually describes in his autobiography is that he went through a personal apocalypse. He writes:  "When I first conceived of Antichrist Superstar , I set out to create an apocalypse. But I didn’t realize it was going to be a personal one. As a child, I had been a weakling, a worm, a follower, a small shadow trying to find a place in an infinite world of light. In the end, in order to find that place...

Marilyn Manson Concert Review: PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey (8/5/2024)

Photo courtesy of Lisa from The Manson Cases

Here is my promised concert review.

This was Marilyn Manson's third show of the tour, the second supporting Five Finger Death Punch. The setlist included all twelve songs performed on August 2nd in Hershey, Pennsylvania, except at this show the new single "As Sick As The Secrets Within" was added after "The Dope Show", like it was on August 3rd in Silver Spring, Maryland. It was also the day the new music video for the song hit one million plays on YouTube.

This was Manson's first Amphitheatre show of the tour. The advantage of an Amphitheatre is that they are designed to produce a great sound from a given performance, especially if you are in the seated area which is covered above you. With that being said, Manson's vocals really sounded great at this show, and the band was clear, strong and tight.
 
On a personal note, because I've been suffering through some pretty bad back pain the past few months from an injury a long time ago, I was not able to stand through most of the show, so I had to sit and watch it on the side stage monitor after the third song. And the pain combined with the oppressively humid weather was making me a bit nauseous and physically uncomfortable.

Despite these personal setbacks, I could tell Manson and the band are progressively getting more comfortable in their live performance this tour, and noticeably were having a great time. And though I couldn't see everything on the stage, the energy from the band was clearly high and the crowd was electrified. Where I was sitting most of the people were there for Five Finger Death Punch, but throughout Manson's set they stood up, cheered and were overall very receptive.

One particular introductory line from Manson which was new during this show was before he sang "Disposable Teens": "The last time they tried to kill me, I made a record called Holy Wood".


 
 
Overall, in case you had your doubts, I haven't heard Manson sound this great in a long time, and though the band plays only for about 50 minutes, this is a tour that should not be missed.
 
As an added personal note, I met up with Lisa from The Manson Cases, since we were seated next to each other, and we both had the exciting opportunity to meet with Manson and Lindsay after the show. They were both very kind and hospitable and grateful, and you can tell Manson is very happy to be making music again and performing live on the stage. It was a dream come true to finally meet him.
 
Lindsay even offered me the setlist Manson had taped to his mirror, and Manson was kind enough to sign it for me with his lipstick.

 
 
 


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