After talking smack about each other onstage (and clashing via social media), the Rob Zombie/Marilyn Manson tour seems to be back on track. The tour hit Camden’s Susquehanna Bank Center Friday night (October 19) and rocked without any unplanned incidents.
DJ Starscream, alias Sid Wilson of Slipknot, opened the show with a pummeling DJ set that combined elements of EDM and metal. While some of the more metal-leaning members of the audience didn’t seem to be with the whole DJ thing, lots of fans were rocking throughout his entire set.
But all eyes were on Marilyn Manson when he and his band hit the stage. Anyone hoping for controversy would be disappointed, though, as Manson did his usual performance with in-between song banter like, “Has anyone in this room made sex with me?” And responding to the cheers, “You shouldn’t be proud of that!” His fourteen song set included songs from his new album Born Villain “Hey Cruel World…” and “Slo-Mo-Tion,” as well as earlier classics like “Beautiful People” (the song which got cut out of his set the night he clashed with his co-headliner), “Antichrist Superstar,” “mOBSCENE” and “I Don’t Like The Drugs (But The Drugs Like Me)” (which featured a bit of The Beatles’ “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”), along with his well known covers, The Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” and Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.” After leaving the stage, he played the recorded version of his take on Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain.”
Alice Cooper once described Rob Zombie as “a tattoo that came to life” and his show reflects that sense of horror movie schtick, with skeletons, robots and huge video screens showing scary movie scenes throughout his show. His set included songs from his latest, Hellbilly Deluxe 2 including “Jesus Frankenstein,” “Sick Bubblegum” and “Mars Needs Women,” as well as his earlier hits (“Dragula,” “Living Dead Girl”) a few White Zombie tunes as well (“More Human Than Human,” “Thunder Kiss ’65”). His main set closed with a cover of Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out,” which would have been a great opportunity for Manson to come on stage, if the duo had really made up. Alas, Zombie kept the conflict safely between the “mother***ers on the right and the mother***ers on the left” of the arena. So, tentative as the Zombie/Manson truce may be, it looks like the tour will keep it together for the next few weeks (if it ended, what would they do with all of their “Twins Of Evil” t-shirts?).
- Brian Ives, CBS Local
