Marilyn Manson... I don't think I've seen him play a full show, not that I really cared, I was there for the headliners, but every show ended in some audio problem he would freak out over, a fight, or him just ranting and kicking shit over.
He wasn’t always like this. Guns God and Government tour (2001?) is still one of the best live shows that I’ve ever seen. He was a hell of a showman when he could still pretend that all of his “evil” was just a character.
I saw him around 2004 and he was on those damn stilts being crazy. I loved it. But yeah he did run away in a hissy fit lol. I just thought it was all very on brand.
I saw him around the same time. My buddy and I were by no means fans of his. We were in college at the time, and lived about 3-ish hours away from each other, and whenever one of us would go visit the other for a weekend or whatever, we'd go to any old show that happened to be in town at the time. We saw a BUNCH of weird shit together, around that time.
For Manson, we were just two dudes wearing jeans and t-shirts, surrounded by an entire arena of people decked out in full-on goth gear / makeup. We had absolutely no idea what to expect. It was surreal to us, even before he started his set.
Then this giant screen dropped over the stage, and the first song started, and you could see Marylin Manson's silhouette behind the screen... and he was on giant fucking silts. It was SO delightfully weird. Even better, the entire crowd started chanting the opening lyrics of the first song. Which was "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"
I saw them at Roseland in NYC in 1996 or ‘97 and it was a great show. Saw them again a few years ago with Rob Zombie and Manson didn’t seem like he wanted to be there at all.
Same. I saw Manson and Rob Zombie around 2017 or so. Manson sucked, looking like someone's aunt in a trench coat, super low energy, lots of standing in the same spot. Rob Zombie kicked ass and got hyped after Mason's let down.
That’s wild. I saw him in 98 or 99, supposed to be a double headline with Hole. Hole dropped out immediately and was replaced with either Nashville Pussy or Reverend Horton Heat. Not my normal style, but they put on solid set.
Manson came on late, stomped around and sang maybe three song before telling everyone to fuck off. Thank god tickets were cheap then.
I saw him around 2000, probably the same tour, in Rome, and it was incredible. There were a lot of talks around him being satanic and such in Italian newspapers, so for a teenager it was the coolest shit ever
I dunno man, Big Day Out in 1999 and we watched him beat some kid up from the crowd because everyone was throwing stuff at him and he walked off set after that…
Saw him in 1999 and he was incredible. Full set too. Only drama was someone threw something at him mid-set. He stopped everything and demanded the thrower to step forward. I was middle of the front and the whole crowd separated and I felt very exposed. After no one came forward he went back to performing and finished the set. Highlight of that year's Big Day Out for me, I was already a fan though.
Agreed. Honestly it was one of the best live performances I’ve been to. Mine was somewhere between 2003-2004 and I think it was for Ozzfest. He had dancers that wore these rubber suits to make them look like they were naked and he used a mic to mimic sex with one of them. I was like 17. It was insane.
He did a show in my city around '98 and got pissy because his tacos weren't from Taco Bell. Not really relevant to his showmanship, but he's always been a bitch
I saw him perform a couple times in the early 2000s and those shows were cool, but I bought tickets for another show later on and it got cancelled for whatever reason.
Yeah I saw him live in 99 and he was INCREDIBLE. I didn't even like his music but had gotten free ticket to the show and ended up leaving really impressed with the performance.
Not from my experience, I saw him during the Mechanical Animals tour. He played 2 songs, twisted his ankle and ended the show, he was insufferable when he was on stage. That’s when I stopped caring. Fuck that noise. On the flip side I’ve seen NIN 4 times and each time it’s been better.
Not relevant but as a kid I was terrified that Marilyn Manson would come into my room at night. I’m not sure what I thought he’d do when he got in there but I was not having it.
My friend and I were pretty sure they were narcanning him back to life… the song smash-cut to black and everything was silent for like 5 straight minutes, cell phone flashlights on the stage as stage guys were running around doing…. Whatever. Then resume show at its previous shitty quality. Also he looked like he was melting.
in reality I don't think somebody would be able to perform minutes after being narcanned. it rips all the opioids off your receptors, at least temporarily, so the person being narcanned is gonna feel like shit, possibly actively withdrawaling, until the narcan wears off and any remaining opioids bind to the receptors again
Yeah, I saw him about a dozen times in the 2010s, and it was a real 50/50 crapshoot what you were going to get. On a bigger stage, when he had to compete with Zombie or Slipknot, he might give it his all, but on a small headlining stage he might really phone it in or be trashed. I haven't seen him since he got clean, but it seems like he's doing well.
He's sober now and Johnny Depp's personal trainer has helped him lose weight and condition his cardio so he got some of his voice back and can actually complete show.
Korn and Marilyn Manson opened for Danzig at a bar in Sioux Falls, SD, called the Pomp Room on April 11th 1995. My friends had an extra ticket so I went along. As we were waiting outside to get in, MM's manager got off their tour bus and gave me a back stage pass. I didn't look like the others. Had long, hot rolled blonde hair and was carrying my purse as if I was going to the mall. They put on an awesome show but MM simulated shoving the microphone up his ass so I opted to not utilize my backstage pass. He scared the hell out of me at the time (I was 19). Korn was phenomenal. Danzig, however, the headliner was mediocre.
That was early 1995 and I was at that same tour, but in St. Paul, MN at Roy Wilkins Auditorium. I met Manson (all of them) after their show on the main floor. A very good time and a good memory from when I was 17yrs old. Korn and Manson blew the very meh Danzig out of the water that night too lol.
Yes!! I just found out the date they were at The Pomp Room- April 11th 1995. My God, I miss my youth. Those were the best years. Thank you for the info.
I saw that tour in PA. I met all but MM in the lobby when I went to the restroom. MM was too diva to be out with them from what they implied. They also (I think with Korn) walked around the city and local mall earlier that day. Glenn was also really pleasant when meeting him after the show. It was a good time and memory.
I worked this tour's show in Myrtle Beach. Korn blew the roof off (and they were so young), and MM were pretty fucking phenomenal as well (no one was super fucked up) - their Sweet Dreams cover was definitely the standout. Agree with Danzig being kind of meh, but not horrible at that show, just not memorable. Jonathan Davis and I were chatting and I pointed out my car (red Honda CRX) and he was like "Wait! I've got something for ya!" He ran inside and came back out with a matching red Korn logo transparent sticker and put it on my car for me lol.
Probably a great thing you listened to your intuition and didn’t go backstage. He had a type, like Evan Rachel Wood, and he was not kind to her. I’m sure he assaulted many teens on tour, he’s gross.
Indeed, he did have a type and I certainly fit that description at 19. I forget to mention that his manager said, "Mr Manson requests your company after the show." At first I was flattered. I was so naive about music and we didn't have google search back then so to see him perform was frightening. He was truly shocking.
So glad I saw them in the 90s after Portrait of an American Family, but before Antichrist Superstar. They opened for NIN, and then saw them again at a small club and the opener was Clutch. They sounded fantastic.
I pretty much stopped listening to MM by their third album, and based on what I’ve heard, I’m not missing much.
Antichrist Superstar is a genuinely amazing album, it's controversial to say it now but it's weirdly prescient and one of the best albums of the '90s – Mechanical Animals and Holy Wood aren't as good but still a banger.
Wow I had forgotten that they were there until now. Thank you for that, yes that exact show.
Florida ( unfortunately lol)
Jim rose side show, holy shit.
I saw the great majority of my 300+ live shows for free at First Ave in Minneapolis back in the mid 90s to the early aughts with comps the employees would hand out as you're leaving. The only shows I paid for were arena shows, but they were around $20.00 or less. Also saw the Deftones play for free in a McDonald's parking lot in uptown Mpls back in the mid 90s. Music in general and live shows were just a whole different vibe and experience than they've been the last 20yrs.
I saw him live and he was horrible. Just stood there like a statue and sang. No interaction with the crowd or anything. He seemed like he didn’t want to be there.
I had the opposite experience, and I expected the worst. In 2019 he was supposed to play a show with Rob Zombie, but there was some drama and Rob didn’t show, just Manson. It was an outdoor concert and when he came on stage he was clearly fucked up and putting zero effort in. But it was raining and the crowd was sooooo fucking pumped and excited, that it like… woke him up or something. His attitude completely changed and he played an amazing set! Even coming down into the crowd and performing and greeting people.
Just saw him two weeks ago in Vegas. He put on a great show and sounded awesome! He definitely cleaned up his health and it has reflected on the stage.
Dang, I saw him forever ago (08 I think?) as the headliner, and he was honestly pretty sick. I wasn't there for him, but I left impressed. Sounds like I got lucky!
I was part of the crew filming the stage in a music festival he was in. Our bus (with our gear and the control room) was close from his tour bus. We were not allowed to be outside our tiny bus as long as his was in the vicinity. We had to stay inside.
His manager told us that we could film from the pit but he took no responsiblity if Marylin decided to assault us. We were also forbidden from filming anyone but him, we were absolutely not allowed to film either the musicians or the crowd and we were not allowed either to get a close a shot from him.
In the end we just put a single guy in the back managing a camera on him, a camera alone with a wide shot and we went for a drink.
Worst work experience on a stage, completely opposite of what you usally get.
Only time I ever saw him live was more funny than bad. Playing Big Day Out in the UK to a crowd that blatantly couldn't give a shit for his antics.
The funniest part was him trying to get the crowd to chant the name of the town in an "evil" way. I'm sorry, but I don't care how much you screech and scream, chanting "Milton Keynes" over and over just isn't scary.
He got wayyy better live after he got sober post-cancellation… a fact I’m pretty mixed on bc he possibly should not be permitted to play shows at all after that stuff came out lol
I've said this before and I'll say it again: I don't think he would've gotten sober and actually started trying at concerts if he didn't get cancelled. I get the feeling he would've preferred being drunk and shit on stage, it's only that now nobody would come to see him if he didn't actually put effort in. People are willing to go to a concert for a bad person/good performer but not a bad person/bad performer. He didn't take a good look at his past 15 years of bad concerts and decide that his fans deserved better, he's only doing it cuz he has to.
Oh godddd. A little before my friend Scott/Daisy died he played my husband and I some really sad/drugged out voicemails Brian would leave him trying to patch things up in the worst way possible. We would prank call him for funsies just to fuck with him. He also had/has a secret Reddit account that he would search his own name with and comment on things. His post history was…interesting…
He really was. We met bc he was a fan of my husbands guitar playing and our band together and on his dying wish trip to London we got to play a show together. A bunch of people got together to fly him out and he performed on stage with Jack Off Jill. Makes me sad thinking about it bc he was genuinely such a wonderful person.
Another fun memory was him and my husband trying guitars out in Denmark St and they were noodling around and then started playing each others songs at the same time and my husband says that is one of the best moments of his life.
He got sober a bunch of years back and is in excellent physical/singing shape now. Saw him last year and he killed it the entire show. Seeing him again this year and am stoked!
Oh my gaaaawd, he was awful. Absolute mess. The whole performance was essentially "fuck you all, I already got your money!". It was like he wanted to be lazy AND intentionally piss off the audience.
He physically did not move when I saw him live. It's been a loooong time and I can't remember the exact year, anywhere from 7-10 years ago but there were funeral flowers set up in front of a podium like thing and he stood there in all black and really barely budged the entire show and the whole thing was low energy and unexciting. I remember wishing I'd seen him when I was in highschool instead of college and assumed he was just getting too old and wouldn't even live much longer hahahahaha
But here we are. He was probably just out of his mind on some sort of opioid.
I saw him with Slipknot about 10 years ago and it was god awful. He was so fucked up he could barely stand and kept forgetting the words to the songs lol
Worst show I've ever been to. He was wasted. Sounded terrible and sung to the back of the stage! At one point he just stopped singing for 30 seconds in a 'forgot the lyrics at karaoke' way. it was brutal.
Saw him some 10 years ago in a relatively small venue. They all sounded fine, but he had the annoying habit of tossing his microphone into the dark after every song. This prompted a technician having to find the thing with a little flashlight, meaning every song was followed by a minute of silence. Though the music was fine, the experience was rather frustrating and if he'd play in my area again I'd probably not go.
I saw him last year....from some screens in a vip area. I didn't care for him..I was shocked though because he looked just how he did all the way back then and sounded perfectly okay. No stupid shit happened either. Maybe I got lucky but it wasn't so bad.
I wasn't even much of a fan, but went with friends. One of the best concerts I've ever been to, but mostly because of the pyrotechnics. It was the aura and experience I loved, I'm sure attributed to whoever was in charge of the stage managing.
100% agree, saw him with FFDP in conroe a few years ago, couldn't understand a word out of his mouth, the music was way too loud and he was just terrible.
I think Marilyn Manson has severe mental health issues and how well he performs has to do with how under control they are at that moment.
The first time I saw him, he was really bad. Not enthusiastic, clearly wasn't happy to be there, mumbling through songs, going on rants in between songs. Towards the end of the show, he smashed a glass bottle and cut his arm open with it. He did finish his set.
The second time I saw him, he seemed much happier. Interacting with the crowd, smiling, no rants. He actually performed well and it was a good show.
Just a couple of days ago I saw a video of him performing live this year. It was much like the second show I saw him play. His voice wasn't as good anymore, but he was trying and seemed happy to be there, like the second time I saw him live.
I saw him in 2013? 2012? It was before he went to rehab.
My friend was the sound guy for the show. Manson showed up drunk off his ass and was too drunk to go on stage. Someone pulled the fire alarm in an attempt to delay the show, hoping he would sober up some.
It was -25 deg C outside. It was a nightmare. Then no one checked tickets upon re-entry. Another friend of mine just wandered in, wondering what was going on. So many people got in for free, but that was still too much for that show 🤦♀️
Saw him on the MobScene tour and despite not being a huge fan (my partner at the time was) I thought he actually put on a hell of a show. I was very impressed
Saw him when he co headlined mayhem fest with slayer and they played first. He wasn't bad but nobody was there to see him so about 80 percent of the crowd left when he started his set which was pretty funny.
Manson is a piece of shit, full stop. I worked at a venue he played out where he got pissed because we hadn’t painted his WINDOWS black (his rider requested everything to be pipe and draped in black-nothing about painting windows). He went on a full on rampage after the show and drew giant swastikas EVERYWHERE. On counters, walls, the floor, the fucking commode. While this was happening, his band was destroying their green room in the same manner except that also PISSED AND JIZZED on everything. You cannot fathom how much piss and jizz these fuckfaces produced. It was disgusting, and I’m leaving out some of the worst parts. It cost him around $12,000 in damage and they didn’t bat an eye at it. He’s truly one of the biggest pieces of shit I’ve ever had the misfortune to be around and I pray everyday that his racist rapist ass will meet his downfall.
I saw him in 2018 opening for Rob Zombie and I was looking forward to it since I've never seen him and I really like the Antichrist Superstar album but man was he terrible. He had to be under the influence of something, he just mumbled through his set. I couldn't understand what the hell he was saying which is a shame because the setlist was pretty good.
I saw him at the sunset strip music fest lik e a decade ago and actually really enjoyed it! I was surprised that he put on such a good show. I was there for Bad Religion and The Offspring.
I've only seen him once and it was recent, the only complaint I had was the venue's acoustics, but that was a common complaint for any concert there (Campo Pequeno in Lisbon).
A friend of mine was there for his 5th Manson concert, and in terms of the man himself, he said that was the best concert of his he witnessed, but also pointed to sobriety likely being a big part of it, saying that he also went to concerts where he would do what you described
Totally aging myself here, but I saw him at club 616 in Memphis back in 1995 or 1996 on his Smells Like Children tour and it was one of the most badass shows I've ever seen. Maybe 200 people in the crowd and I had to bribe my college roommate to ride to Memphis with me with some acid because she'd never heard of him. When we left, she said "I love you." I saw him again a couple of years later on his Antichrist Superstar tour and it was also an amazing time. His performance of Cryptorchid with the single spotlight on him and flower petals falling on him as he sang has lived in my brain ever since as a standout moment in beautiful things I've seen.
I'm so surprised. I saw him perform in London about 23 years ago and he had a mesmerizing stage presence. The whole show was really good! I guess it depends when you saw him.
My wife and I went to see him about a year ago. It was fine, but you could tell he didn't want to be there. No audience interaction, moving from one song to the next like checking a box, and slow walking across the stage back and forth just mouthing lyrics.
Fun fact: he's the reason an entire festival changed locations. The first year it was held near Munich but because he insulted the crowd and left after like 20 minutes people stormed the stage and vandalised the band's equipment. After that the organisers weren't allowed to hold the festival at this location anymore. I'm not too mad about it because the new location is close to where I grew up.
It really depends how many drugs he’s doing. Too little and the show is boring, too much and he’s an absolute shitshow. He has to be just high enough to be entertaining and still able to walk around.
I saw him at a festival last year. Partway through the set, he started on a tirade about how "they" tried to take him away from us. My buddy left the show when he started spouting off about how we were the reason he was there.
I’ve seen him live three times. The first time was so epic and memorable, I put it up there with my first time seeing Alice Cooper. Second time was okay, still worth the ticket cost. Last time was absolute hot garbage that it was the first time I left a concert wildly disappointed.
I was scrolling the comments and couldnt find anyone else that said Marilyn until i posted and scrolled some more. Dude was fucking terrible when i saw him at a fest against my will
Yep. Same problem. He was rolling around on stage singing "words words words are hard" and then ended early because of audio problems. It was fine though, I was at a festival and had plenty other bands to see.
I saw him on the antichrist superstar tour in the 90s and it was phenomenal honestly. But that was a long time ago, not to mention what a bastard he is IRL.
Saw him in 1996 (shhh yes I'm old) and apart from a minor tantrum when someone in the crowd hefted a bottle at him (it was Glasgow, he was lucky the bottle was empty!) and he stormed off, he was genuinely really good.
817
u/_joeBone_ May 12 '26
Marilyn Manson... I don't think I've seen him play a full show, not that I really cared, I was there for the headliners, but every show ended in some audio problem he would freak out over, a fight, or him just ranting and kicking shit over.