Marilyn Manson - London Review

I am now half way through my big weekend away and I am planning to have a fairly quiet day in London today before heading out again for another night of live music. Later on I will travelling across from Acton to Kentish Town for Green Lung and Unto Others' show at the O2 Forum - but for now I need to write about last night's trip to the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith. Following a rather uneventful train journey across from Bristol, and a quick trip to a Notting Hill record shop, I checked into my Acton Travelodge ready for what promised to be another great night. The reason for the trip was Marilyn Manson - someone I have liked since my teenage years but had never seen live before. I am not quite sure why I did not see him back then, but I am assuming that a sensible opportunity to do so did not present itself, but in recent years it always seemed like he had dropped off in terms of quality when it came to his performances. I actually think that his albums throughout the 2010s were generally pretty good, but the reports from his live shows were often less than positive - and judging from some of the footage I have seen over the years it is hard to disagree. As such, I was quite content with not seeing him live - but when his tour with Five Finger Death Punch in America kicked off last year the reviews were flooding in regarding how good he was again. Whilst not exactly a return to his late 1990s/early 2000s best, there was certainly the sense that Manson had got his mojo, and his voice, back. Following years of being overweight and struggling to sound powerful, Manson was once again looking like his old lanky self - and sounding strong despite his voice still showing natural signs of age. At the time I was not necessarily expecting a European tour to follow, but it was not long before a new album was announced and some European tour dates were booked which included a handful of UK shows. If I was to see him live, then, I felt that this was the best chance to do so. Following his enforced break from touring due to a myriad of legal issues, some of which do not seem to be resolved as of yet, this tour felt like something of a comeback for him. He was hungry and somewhat had something to prove again - so I felt as if those lacklustre shows of the past would not be what Europe were treated to - particularly if he carried over his form from that US tour last year. It also helped that his latest album, One Assassination Under God - Chapter 1 (which I reviewed here), was also very strong - which later validated my decision to pick up a ticket for the tour. As I said, though, I do not think that his recorded output significantly saw a drop off in quality - but I do think that One Assassination Under God - Chapter 1 felt a little more inspired than perhaps his last album, and the shades of 1998's Mechanical Animals were particularly welcome. Of the few shows UK announced, the one in London made the most sense. The Eventim Apollo is always a great place to see bands - and it also fitted in alongside some other plans I had.

The venue opened at 7pm, but by the time I had got to the front of the long, snaking queue and inside it was probably around 7:20pm. Nothing started until 8pm, so there was not too long to wait, and the sold out venue soon filled up. There was only support act, the French rockers The Blackmordia, and their half an hour set flew by but never really made much of an impact. In truth I did have to spend some of it answering a call of nature - but the synth-driven glam rockers felt a little lightweight opening up for Manson despite some good ideas and a few decent choruses. The main issue the band came up against, though, was the sound. Sadly, the lead singer's voice was generally very low in the mix - which meant that the choruses, which generally sounded decent, did not have much of a chance to hit home. He did not have the most powerful of voices, either, instead having more of a poppy tone which perhaps did not help. The crowd did not really seem all that interested, either. The last song of the set saw a little bit of interaction in terms of phone lights being held aloft - but the cheers between each song were muted at best, and The Blackmordia failed to generate any sort of significant reaction. I somewhat felt sorry for them, as they seem like they could be quite an interesting band with a strong mix of 1970s-esque glam rock and synth driven pop rock - but neither side of their sound really was able to shine through last night. In truth, they were probably the wrong band for this tour. Whilst Manson has never fully been associated with the metal scene, he is nevertheless a generally pretty heavy artist - so something heavier would have likely worked better. There were a few chunky riffs in The Blackmordia's set, but nothing approaching Manson levels of heaviness - and I think that sadly quite a few people were bored. In the right context and with a better sound mix they might be a band that can excel and impress - but they did not leave much of an impression last night despite having some interesting ideas.

Around half an hour following The Blackmordia's set the lights went down again and Manson and his band took their places on the stage behind a curtain - which dropped during the opening bass strains of opener Nod if You Understand. For his first UK headline show since 2017, Manson struck a fine balance between new material and old favourites. Over half of the new album was featured throughout the night, which was a wise move in my opinion, but plenty of classic tracks were also included. Generally, much of the set was pretty heavy, too, although there were a few slower, more atmospheric moments. The first three songs were all up-tempo, though, with the riff-heavy Disposable Teens and the groovy Angel with the Scabbed Wings following the aforementioned opener. Manson's band for this tour features some old returning faces and some new names, with Tyler Bates (guitar/vocals) and Gil Sharone (drums) back in the fold and Reba Myers (guitar/vocals) and Piggy D. (bass guitar/vocals) coming on board. The band were tight and allowed Manson to shine, with D. in particular standing out. The bass has always been a huge part of Manson's sound, possibly more important than the guitars at times, and he nailed all of the classic grooves whilst Bates and Myers riffed away and laid down atmospheric and discordant leads. Torniquet proved to be an early chance for some atmosphere to be injected into the evening - with Manson's classic croon filling the venue. Vocally, I thought he sounded strong for the most part. Whilst not exactly back to his best, he sounded strong and confident throughout, with even the big screams sounding venomous, whilst between songs he chatted with the crowd more than I expected him to. He seemed very happy to be back out on the road and the crowd was really into the show from the off - singing along to all the songs played, old and new. It was the old favourites that really struck a chord, though, with This Is the New Shit and mOBSCENE both coming about half way through the set to really kick things into the next gear. The amount of jumping and movement down at the front for the latter was impressive to see from my vantage point near the back - but the pulsing Meet Me in Purgatory earlier on had still gone down well. The latter portion of the main set was a bit more subdued and groovy, with tracks like Great Big White World and As Sick as the Secrets Within showcasing a creepier, more atmospheric sound, whilst the glam rock stomp of The Dope Show was full of D.'s bass and Manson's snarled, sarcastic vocals. This atmospheric sound was continued on with his famous cover of Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) before the main set came to a close with the riff-heavy and anthemic The Beautiful People. The main set was a bit shorter than average, but that seems to be typical of Manson's approach, but he came back for two one-song encores before the night was done. The title track from the latest album proved to be a real winner, and maybe the best of the new songs live, before the soaring ballad Coma White saw the evening come to a close. The setlist was:

Nod if You Understand

Disposable Teens

Angel with the Scabbed Wings

Torniquet

Meet Me in Purgatory

This Is the New Shit

Death Is Not a Costume

mOBSCENE

Great Big White World

The Dope Show

As Sick as the Secrets Within

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) [Eurythmics cover]

The Beautiful People

-

One Assassination Under God

-

Coma White

Despite all the positive vibes leading up to the show, I still was not sure how things would turn out. Manson has not really been known for his live shows for some time now, so it could have been a disappointment - but I really enjoyed my time at the Eventim Apollo last night. Manson put on a powerful show and the atmosphere in the room was excellent. Seeing him feels like a big tick off the list of those artists I have not seen live - and it is good to have a positive experience of him rather than having seen him previously and likely coming away disappointed.