Recent shows have been showing Mazza more lively and more importantly coping better with vocals. Band lineup is gelling together pretty nicely too. Cohesive all around.
Dare I say he might be on the mend?
Saw him yesterday in Stockholm. First time seeing Manson live. I really only went because I was already there for APC, and MM show was really cheap (just 12 Euro for the admission to the park where he played if you got there no later than 6PM).
After years of following his career through ETS and disastrous YouTube vids, I really had no expectations whatsoever.
Well, I was honestly surprised by how good was the performance. Brian was 97% sober, wasn't out of breath, didn't slur, didn't fall down or break any stage props, was in really good mood and hit pretty much all the notes that mattered.
The only real downside was that it was too short, just about 70-75 minutes. Also, they band really needs a 5th member to get Disposable Teens right because the percussion was really lucking.
Overall, the show was 7/10 by my scale.
Yeah, at this point I have no plans on buying tickets for Manson shows. I think it's too hit or miss. It seems like he has great shows and bad ones. I'm happy I got to see him twice and the second show was absolutely phenomenal.
Yeah, I would equate being a Manson fan to being a Bills fan. 90s? Yeah, fucking great.
Now? Every year it's "yeah last year was bad but we made great changes and it's totally gonna be our year." And then every year, some brief flashes of "holy crap, maybe this is really the year..."
...and then it all implodes in some new and exciting fashion.
While nothing seems to have happened the shows at Rock am Ring and Rock im Park in Germany were still frustrating to watch. The band has no chemistry at this point it seems which is not baffling at all and Manson while indeed able to reach some difficult notes here and there is just a dissapointment to watch if you haven't seen him before.
Drowned in fog with ridicoulous speeches with the same old setlist, it's beyond my understanding how he can still tour that much. Is it really the quite good media echo to his records and some people willing to still buy tickets that keeps this train rolling?!
I think he's hit the magic spot of nostalgia meets fans who finally don't have parents to tell them no. Seriously.
Part of the crowd are the 20-somethings of the Portrait era who are now 40-50 somethings who have money and want to relieve the glory days. Part of the crowd are the people who were young enough in the MA / Holy Wood era that this is their chance to go see their former idol without ol' mom & dad telling them they can't go, and having the time / money to do it.
I'm not saying those are the only two crowds - but I think it's a contributing factor. When he played near us earlier this year, it sold out in a matter of days. I had relatives pushing 60 who were disappointed that they couldn't get tickets. The nostalgia thing in particular is real.
I’m in my (very) early 20s from a shitty small town and can say that in my experience Manson had a strong image/relevancy even a few years ago among teens. He’s one of the last rockstars that everybody knew the face and name of and still makes parents mad when they find out their kids are listening to him (and alternatively his parenting-age fans are now probably encouraging). I was in high school when Born Villain came out and and knew a lot of kids who talked about it, the guy’s image is practically a meme in the original sense of the word. Even people who can’t hum a single song know what he looks like (well, maybe not recently lol).
As much as getting stuck in his early/mid-2000s image has damaged his creativity and ability to feel fresh again, it also has meant that he’s remained a recognizable figure to people and the themes his best work dealt with are pretty much timeless if you’re a sad kid in a small town with lots of religious hypocrisy around. People who don’t get deep into music often just remember the hits of people and Manson’s have had a lot of staying power over the years, he’s made music for teenagers most of his career and as much as people who know his work more realize he’s a shadow of what he once was, on a surface level from a distance he still looks like he represents the same things he used to (even if in reality he doesn’t).
Marilyn Manson is a larger than life character thing that he got stuck inside of but the flipside of that is he’s one of the very last larger than life rockstar celebrities that managed to have their big relevancy just before the internet and social media swept that whole concept away. There’s a feeling of being a cultural constant around him that is both comforting/nostalgic for older fans and appealing and unreal to younger ones, because there’s basically no one else your parents remember hating and your older siblings loved and people you know still wear t-shirts of who has kept the same aesthetic and sound for so long. People who listen to full albums and talk about them at length and pay attention to touring cycles are less than enthused with the guy at this point but that’s honestly a minority of people. I’m not that surprised he can maintain audiences at shows despite how hit and (mostly) miss he is these days, especially since people like to see a trainwreck and it adds to the appeal.
Nostalgia, teenagers and instant name recognition go a long way and as ridiculous as it sounds he’s still a figure that the mention of him can bring out strong reactions in people — the whole dick-sucking rib thing, Satanism and burning the flag are things that kids and teachers all remembered and brought up in school and that was within the last decade for me, plus the whole Columbine thing that never went away. There’s no one else I can think of who you could say you liked and get such a reaction out of people over it — there’s no feeling of danger or shock or controversy around anybody but because he made his impressions at the tale end of Old Celebrity he’s managed to keep that staying power somehow. For me growing up liking Marilyn Manson felt like a way of vicariously getting to experience what it was like when everyone knew who you were talking about, before streaming and YouTube fragmented everything into subcultures and before nobody gave a shit. That was an amazing feeling and one I don’t think will ever stop being something people search for. The guy could easily coast on greatest hits sets and make enough money to support his lifestyle forever which is exactly what he’s been doing sadly.
Last edited by implanted_microchip; 06-07-2018 at 02:12 PM.
Yeah but did you meet them at the same time?
It's due to what I've said numerous times...ride your name, man. Ride your name. Reach that one specific point of fame and regardless of what happens thereafter, or how washed up you become...you'll have a core group that will swear everything you shit out is solid gold.
I was thinking about this last week when I re-watched Dead to the World. Seeing all those people protesting his shows because they thought he was the Devil...when was the last time that happened? It's funny that we haven't really had another artist create that kind of response to their music. The most we get now is a bunch of angry tweets. Seeing those crowds of people holding up anti-Manson signs really does show the effect he had on people. He probably is the last rock star to scare the shit out of people. And like you said, that's probably a big factor for people going to see him now.
For me, last time that happened was the the rape of the world tour, when Twiggy came back. I was walking and there was this dude yelling at people saying they were going to hell if they did not repent for there sins and rescue their soul or some shit. Couldnt tell if it was fake or not. Then again, there was a man on my campus earlier this year saying we were going to hell if we didnt save our selves. And this was to a bunch of IT students.
Hahaha nah, it's what I said. People today aren't going to a show for MM or any similar act due to some protests on a home video 20+ years ago. It's because he's famous enough now that he could tour behind an album of 60 minutes of kazoo solos and certain people would STILL pay to see him. See: Guns 'n Roses, Limp Bizkit, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
I think a lot of us still go to shows and purchase albums in the hope that he will get it together eventually and return to form. Guys like Trent, Maynard etc are roughly the same age, engaged in some hard living etc: and they still making high-quality art and performing with excellence. At one point in time, Manson was an excellent performer and a strong lyricist- fans know he has it in him to do well and they see his peers still doing well so they hold out with the hope that things will get better.
I have a lot of affection for the MM music I grew up with, but I think most of us know it’s not the same and it’s just wishful thinking to keep buying. I was a far bigger MM fan in the 90’s than I was of NIN, but in the end Trent just kept improving and growing and Manson didn’t. If anything, his writing abilities have declined a lot. I don’t know if he’s drinking a ton or if it’s narcotics or lack of interest that caused it, but I wish he would figure it out.
The studio version of Cry Little Sister is out today. Someday maybe we'll get that Johnny Cash cover...
What the hell. Was reading some of the comments on this on FB and most people were saying this sucked. I dig it!