At the beautiful Uptown Theater here in Kansas City, MO on May 16th, 2012…..one of the most important artists from the 90′s came to show he still has something to say and can still put on a mean performance. The crowd was well drugged up with the poisons of their choice, mine was a few Crown & Cokes, and anticipation built while the crew finish setting up the stage and doing a quick last minute stage check. The lights dimmed and the crowd went nuts. A track from “Smells Like Children” began playing and it was the introduction the band used to cut straight into a new song from their latest album. The band was on fire and the sound and lighting was a sight to behold!

The performance and sound coming from the stage was quite intense for these aging 90′s rockers. Manson himself sounded great throughout the entire set. His stage presence was his usual “don’t give a fuck” attitude and messed with Twiggy and his bassist Fred Sablan. There was a lot of walking back and forth, leaning into the crowd (Even jumping down to floor level once) and doing erotic poses every once in awhile. Manson’s arsenal of random stage tricks, hats and microphones were fun to watch. Manson used a massive flashlight thing and found the disco ball hanging in the center of the venue and made it light up in there quite a bit. He also used this fog machine hose thing and messed with the people up front with it. Manson’s accessories included a disco helmet, multiple hats and even a pink feather boa which he used during “The Dope Show”. His in between song banter was mainly an excuse to use the word “fuck” as much as he could. One of the coolest accessories though were his two mics he had, one of them being a dagger with a mic attached to it and the other being a brass knuckle microphone. That was just great. Manson even played guitar on the song “Pistol Whipped” and finished the song with him playing some chords with his microphone stand.

The band played flawlessly, Twiggy (Who is now on lead guitar duties) blazed through each song without a problem. Sounding great in the process. Fred’s sexy bass playing made every single panty wet and Jason’s porn rhythms on the drum kit added to the orgy of sound. Their production and being so tight nit made the show a success! I’ve seen Manson twice prior to this and this was the best they’ve sounded by far. The new songs were good but the older songs were great! I’m sure they (Twiggy and Manson for sure) have played these songs hundreds/thousands of times before but they still have an energy about them as if they are playing them for the first time. The only blunder I witnessed was Manson got ahead of himself during the song “Irresponsible Hate Anthem” and began the chorus when it wasn’t time to yet, he immediately caught himself though and it was almost unnoticeable. Other than that the show went flawlessly, and that’s just being nit picky.

The set was a good blend of newer songs off of the album he dropped a couple of weeks ago and his older hits, mainly off of Antichrist Superstar. The crowd was calm while Manson played newer songs like “No Reflection” and “Slo-Mo-Tion” but went crazy during “Disposable Teens”, “Irresponsible Hate Anthem” and “Personal Jesus”. They especially went crazy when Manson’s crew put up the podium and Manson climbed up it and performed the song “Antichrist Superstar.” Of course other favorites were performed but I wish a couple of songs would have been switched out for some better ones. The gets what the crowd wants though, I’m sure “The Dope Show” and “Sweet Dreams” are a staple in his set and no “if’s”, “and’s” or “but’s”….those will get played no matter what. While the first 10 songs were a pretty good mix of songs, I feel it was the last 5 songs that made it end incredibly strong. They chose some great tunes to play to close the show with.

The show was great, even from way in the back where I was. The Uptown Theater was the perfect place for Manson to perform and I hope on the next tour he comes back through. I had a great time and from the looks of all of the people that attended that night, they did as well. It’s safe to say after 20+ years of performing and making music, Marilyn Manson still has that passion and fire in his gut and it shows on stage. Bravo!!! I highly recommend seeing them if they are hitting a town near you.

Setlist:

Hey, Cruel World

Disposable Teens

The Love Song

No Reflection

mOBSCENE

The Dope Show

Slo-Mo-Tion

Rock Is Dead

Personal Jesus

Pistol Whipped

Tourniquet

Irresponsible Hate Anthem

Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of These)

Antichrist Superstar

The Beautiful People