Marilyn Manson, Coal Chamber, Wednesday 13, Motionless in White @ The Enmore, Sydney (29/02/2012)
Photo by Stephanie Cammarano
It’s clear that the Marilyn Manson Soundwave sideshow at the Enmore Theatre is sold out when you arrive and the line to get in is already halfway up the street, well before gates open. If anything a Manson show is one of the best opportunities to either get dressed up or dressed down, and in this instance there isn’t a lack of self expression amongst the excited crowd.
The show opens with Motionless in White, a six piece melodic metal outfit from Pennsylvania. The band has a devoted following in the U.S and from what I could see drew some mixed reactions from the crowd. They nailed the macabre look they were going for and had a great onstage presence, bouncing in unison whilst producing sounds layered with heavy riffs, growling vocals and booming sound effects.
Their performance included ‘Creatures’, ‘Dragula’ (Rob Zombie cover) and ‘Abigail’ and ended with ‘Immaculate Conception’.
Next up is Wednesday 13, aka Joseph Poole (lead singer for Murderdolls), who attracts a lot more interest, and front of stage swells a little more, as people move forward for his set. He lives up to his reputation, putting on a thoroughly entertaining and theatrical show. It’s like being caught in a time warp of awesome 80’s inspired rock metal, as he struts about on staging vigorously encouraging the crowd, whilst his guitarist pulls out one screeching guitar solo after another. He also did me the favour of introducing each song in a cheesy one liner, opening with ‘Calling all Corpses’ before moving on to ‘I Walked with a Zombie’ and closing the set with ‘Bad Things’. Major highlights for me were ‘Put Your Death Mask On’ and ‘R.A.M.BO’ which was perfect for a sing along. He also humoured us with a kick ass version of Murderdolls song ‘197666’.
During set up for Coal Chamber, an intriguing piece of stage equipment has been noticed, the new and experimental Misa Digital Guitar, which sadly ends up being hardly used during the entire set. As the lights dim, the band amuses the audience by emerging after an intro of ‘Mr Sandman’ and charge into their opener ‘Loco’. Lead singer Dez Fafara growls into his light up mike as heavy riffs and rumbling bass lines served up by Chela Harper carry into ‘Big Truck’ and ‘Fiend’. Dez then grabs a megaphone and launches into ‘Rowboat’, this was a definite highlight, the megaphone completely changed the tone and sound of Dez’s vocals, adding a lingering sexiness to the twisted love song. There is an encouraged mass middle finger flipping during ‘Not Living’ and as soon as Dez mentions the next song is the thunderous and frenetic ‘I’, the crowd makes way for a psycho circle. Drummer Mike Cox adds to the craziness by throwing things including open water bottles, his seat and a drum skin. The set is ends with ‘Something Told Me’, ‘Oddity’ and ‘Sway’, the only negative I found at the end of this killer set was that during some parts of the songs the lyrics dropped out and that was partly because of the way Dez held the mike.
By this stage the room is packed shoulder to shoulder, the seats are full and the black curtain is going up for Marilyn Manson’s big entrance. The atmosphere is tense and heavy, as a heart beat intro is played and smoke machines go into overdrive. As the curtain drops Manson emerges from the haze wearing a crown of lasers on his head and fluoro zinc on each cheek. The audience become a mad rabble as he launches into ‘Antichrist Superstar’ followed by favourite ‘Disposable Teens’. Compared to his set at Soundwave he seems livelier as he yells out ‘Australia!’ and is greeted with screams. Without missing a beat Manson then charges into ‘The Love Song’, a blinding red light bathes him, as engages in call and response with the pulsing crowd.
Manson pauses for a moment to don a top hat and discuss narcotics, asking if people are high and where the ‘special water’ is and this sets up the cue for ‘The Dope Show’ another moment that ramps up the audience’s enthusiasm. ‘Rock is Dead’ is highlighted with bursts of smoke and ends with a shower of confetti, on which in true comical form Manson comments ‘feels like period on the head’. Another cheer goes out for ‘Personal Jesus’ another favourite for the night, this song seems to incite nudity whenever its performed and there were at least three girls quick to get their tops off. At this point in time Manson is showing some of his old spark, rolling around on the floor as he sings, his voice never wavering or losing its power.
There is a short break as the lights dim down again, through the smoke Manson emerges once more this time with a torch attached to his mike. ‘Sweet Dreams’ is met with a roar and is chanted along to with much conviction. This tune really brings out all of colour and character in Manson’s vocals. The band has now relaxed and members Twiggy Ramirez and Fred Sablan seem to have come alive and are more animated than their last show. Manson and Twiggy hug onstage before he continues with spoken word version of ‘1996’. Whenever he performs this song there’s always somebody that doesn’t understand that it’s intentionally spoken, which is the very thing I love about it and never tire of. Thankfully it goes down a treat here, even though there is a break where Manson tells the people in front to shush, ‘shall I continue my poetry open mike night?’ One more brief intermission and Manson is back with his leather cap on this meaning we’re at ‘Beautiful People’, usually the last song. It is a wild finale, Manson is hugging Fred, the drum kits fallen over and everyone’s dancing with everything they’ve got.
Manson surely delivers, but what got me was the contrast between some of his earlier performances and this performance. He’s an intriguing character and an entertainer known for his wild antics on stage, and I couldn’t help but feel it that the performance was very low on energy. The set barely lasted the hour it was scheduled, which I thought left the ticket holders a little short changed, and there was no real encore. However, the mad devotion of his fans and the sheer familiarity of the music played its part in pulling the performance through. It’s the believers that make Manson an institution and if your believers leave your show happy and content, then you must be doing something right.
Nazia Hafiz
The show opens with Motionless in White, a six piece melodic metal outfit from Pennsylvania. The band has a devoted following in the U.S and from what I could see drew some mixed reactions from the crowd. They nailed the macabre look they were going for and had a great onstage presence, bouncing in unison whilst producing sounds layered with heavy riffs, growling vocals and booming sound effects.
Their performance included ‘Creatures’, ‘Dragula’ (Rob Zombie cover) and ‘Abigail’ and ended with ‘Immaculate Conception’.
Next up is Wednesday 13, aka Joseph Poole (lead singer for Murderdolls), who attracts a lot more interest, and front of stage swells a little more, as people move forward for his set. He lives up to his reputation, putting on a thoroughly entertaining and theatrical show. It’s like being caught in a time warp of awesome 80’s inspired rock metal, as he struts about on staging vigorously encouraging the crowd, whilst his guitarist pulls out one screeching guitar solo after another. He also did me the favour of introducing each song in a cheesy one liner, opening with ‘Calling all Corpses’ before moving on to ‘I Walked with a Zombie’ and closing the set with ‘Bad Things’. Major highlights for me were ‘Put Your Death Mask On’ and ‘R.A.M.BO’ which was perfect for a sing along. He also humoured us with a kick ass version of Murderdolls song ‘197666’.
During set up for Coal Chamber, an intriguing piece of stage equipment has been noticed, the new and experimental Misa Digital Guitar, which sadly ends up being hardly used during the entire set. As the lights dim, the band amuses the audience by emerging after an intro of ‘Mr Sandman’ and charge into their opener ‘Loco’. Lead singer Dez Fafara growls into his light up mike as heavy riffs and rumbling bass lines served up by Chela Harper carry into ‘Big Truck’ and ‘Fiend’. Dez then grabs a megaphone and launches into ‘Rowboat’, this was a definite highlight, the megaphone completely changed the tone and sound of Dez’s vocals, adding a lingering sexiness to the twisted love song. There is an encouraged mass middle finger flipping during ‘Not Living’ and as soon as Dez mentions the next song is the thunderous and frenetic ‘I’, the crowd makes way for a psycho circle. Drummer Mike Cox adds to the craziness by throwing things including open water bottles, his seat and a drum skin. The set is ends with ‘Something Told Me’, ‘Oddity’ and ‘Sway’, the only negative I found at the end of this killer set was that during some parts of the songs the lyrics dropped out and that was partly because of the way Dez held the mike.
By this stage the room is packed shoulder to shoulder, the seats are full and the black curtain is going up for Marilyn Manson’s big entrance. The atmosphere is tense and heavy, as a heart beat intro is played and smoke machines go into overdrive. As the curtain drops Manson emerges from the haze wearing a crown of lasers on his head and fluoro zinc on each cheek. The audience become a mad rabble as he launches into ‘Antichrist Superstar’ followed by favourite ‘Disposable Teens’. Compared to his set at Soundwave he seems livelier as he yells out ‘Australia!’ and is greeted with screams. Without missing a beat Manson then charges into ‘The Love Song’, a blinding red light bathes him, as engages in call and response with the pulsing crowd.
Manson pauses for a moment to don a top hat and discuss narcotics, asking if people are high and where the ‘special water’ is and this sets up the cue for ‘The Dope Show’ another moment that ramps up the audience’s enthusiasm. ‘Rock is Dead’ is highlighted with bursts of smoke and ends with a shower of confetti, on which in true comical form Manson comments ‘feels like period on the head’. Another cheer goes out for ‘Personal Jesus’ another favourite for the night, this song seems to incite nudity whenever its performed and there were at least three girls quick to get their tops off. At this point in time Manson is showing some of his old spark, rolling around on the floor as he sings, his voice never wavering or losing its power.
There is a short break as the lights dim down again, through the smoke Manson emerges once more this time with a torch attached to his mike. ‘Sweet Dreams’ is met with a roar and is chanted along to with much conviction. This tune really brings out all of colour and character in Manson’s vocals. The band has now relaxed and members Twiggy Ramirez and Fred Sablan seem to have come alive and are more animated than their last show. Manson and Twiggy hug onstage before he continues with spoken word version of ‘1996’. Whenever he performs this song there’s always somebody that doesn’t understand that it’s intentionally spoken, which is the very thing I love about it and never tire of. Thankfully it goes down a treat here, even though there is a break where Manson tells the people in front to shush, ‘shall I continue my poetry open mike night?’ One more brief intermission and Manson is back with his leather cap on this meaning we’re at ‘Beautiful People’, usually the last song. It is a wild finale, Manson is hugging Fred, the drum kits fallen over and everyone’s dancing with everything they’ve got.
Manson surely delivers, but what got me was the contrast between some of his earlier performances and this performance. He’s an intriguing character and an entertainer known for his wild antics on stage, and I couldn’t help but feel it that the performance was very low on energy. The set barely lasted the hour it was scheduled, which I thought left the ticket holders a little short changed, and there was no real encore. However, the mad devotion of his fans and the sheer familiarity of the music played its part in pulling the performance through. It’s the believers that make Manson an institution and if your believers leave your show happy and content, then you must be doing something right.
Nazia Hafiz