On April 7th, 1999 AD I have witnessed the greatest rock show on earth at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ, for Marilyn Manson performed flawlessly on that day. Nashville Pussy doesn't even deserve to be mentioned. Smashing a guitar into an amplifier and leaving it there for 30 minutes would have created the same effect. Monster Magnet were pretty good and had a nice reaction from the audience. The lead singer made pretty good use of a flashlight and spiced up the performance by taking a swipe at Courtney Love. Oh! Before I forget, outside of the arena there were huge electronic signs saying "HOLE WILL NOT PERFORM", which I found to be quite humorous and satisfying. Anyway, let me get Manson's set list out of the way. I will go into the little details of the songs later. I don't think these are in the correct order, but these are all the songs.

The Reflecting God
The Great Big White World
Mechanical Animals
Get Your Gunn
Sweet Dreams
The Dope Show
Lunchbox
Rock Is Dead
Speed Of Pain
I Want To Disappear
I Don't Like The Drugs (But The Drugs Like Me)
Irresponsible Hate Anthem
Antichrist Superstar
The Beautiful People

Encore - Rock N' Roll Nigger

The Band:

Mr. Manson - Absolutely amazing. He let the crowd sing along on many songs, and of course, entertained us with wonderful stories about his dreams and experiences. He wore a few costumes. The first one was the one in the Rock is Dead video, then there was the leather trenchcoat, then the cop uniform, and finally the cool Antichrist Superstar getup.

Twiggy - Was as funny as always to watch. He was always dancing along and seemed to be smiling a lot. During one point in the concert, he ran behind Ginger, hopped around Manson, and finally stopped and played right next to John5, he seemed like he wanted to stand back to back with John, but then reconsidered and hopped back to his original spot.

Pogo - Pogo was just as crazy and wild as always. He gives you the impression like he is playing every instrument at once, because he really gets into it, swinging his keyboard (which was suspended on chains or something) and headbanging like there is no tomorrow.

Ginger - I think Ginger was having some problems with his cymbal or something, because he was constantly reaching to his right and tightening or adjusting something. However, he sounded absolutely great. Didn't miss a beat. There was something strange about him though. He wore a hooded gray sweatshirt throughout the whole show. I found that odd, considering everyone else was in colorful glam make up and clothes.

John5 - I think this guy is amazing! Lunchbox along with many other songs sounded superior to any live recording I've heard before. This guy is better than Zim Zum or Scott Putesly will ever be. He kept doing this weird tribal dance, kind of running/hopping around in circles, and when that boy starts shaking his head it becomes a weird white and pink blur.

The Songs:

The Reflecting God - While there is a white sheet over the stage and a mechanical voice keeps introducing the band over and over, Twiggy's and John5's shadows can be seen. The curtains drop and Manson rises up on the TV cross. It was strange, because I expected the cross to rise vertically from the ground, but instead it kind of rose up from a horizontal position as if it was on hinges. Anyway, this song was pretty good. It was difficult to follow because the chorus was changed to simply "Shoot Shoot Motherfucker" and it was hard telling when the verse stopped and chorus began because it all was jumbled up.

Great Big White World - This song sounded incredible. And it just kind of materialized out of the last chord of The Reflecting God. There was no pause at all. Anyway, the spot light focused on Pogo a lot, considering this song has plenty of keyboards.

Mechanical Animals - This song was spectacular visually. The stilts, the green mist, everything. Manson looked like some kind of deformed spider. It was really cool, and he stood up raising both of his support things above him, which I thought was daring because he was pretty high and it's a small stage.

Get Your Gunn - It was good to hear a great classic, although I really wanted Cake and Sodomy. Anyway, this song rocked. The whole crowd chanted "Get Yo' Gunn!!" with Manson, while the band played ruthlessly. This song seemed a lot louder than the others.

Sweet Dreams - This one got the biggest reaction. Once again, I must commend John5. The little solo in the middle sounded so much better than anywhere else (even on the album). Anyway, parts of this song were deafening, because every single person, including Manson, screamed "Abused!!!" as loud as they could. At the end of the song, the cross burst into flames and Ginger did this funky drum solo while it was burning

The Dope Show - I didn't think that this song would be very good, judging by the somewhat weak MTV performance. However, I was blown away by it. It was rougher, louder, and simply better. Pogo had two little drums and he kept hitting his huge ride cymbal over and over. I don't really understand why, because Ginger could have done that quite easily. By the way, the drugs are made right here in fucking New York City. One problem.. the show was in New Jersey. But I'm sure East Rutherford wouldn't quite fit in, and the second "cops and queers" line was changed to "pigs and fags".

Lunchbox - Manson demanded some more noise from the crowd and when he got a deafening response, he began chanting "Next motherfucka's gonna my metal", and at that point the crowd went wild. Anyway, in the middle of the song, when things slowed down, Manson walked over to every section of the crowd to sing with them. So he yells "I wanna grow up! I wanna be.. A big Rock N' Roll Star!!", and extends the mic to the crowd, and gets some odd screams and mumbles. No one could figure out whether to repeat that line, or go on to the next one, because the actual song doesn't have any lyrics in that spot. Manson didn't seem to mind though and when the song got going again, someone threw a shirt or a bra or something on stage, and Manson picked it up, wiped his ass with it and threw it back into the crowd. By the way, my friend got a piece of the gold glitter which was poured down at the beginning of the song.

Rock Is Dead - Looked just like the video, with the bubble-like background and everything. John5 kept running around in circles while everyone sang along. Great song.

Speed Of Pain - This song was absolutely beautiful. I think John5 used his electric guitar for this one actually, because it sounded a little distorted. I'm not sure though, it was dark. Anyway, Manson's silhouette in the snow looked incredible. This is a wonderful song.

I Want To Disappear - Nothing spectacular. Just a filler I think. Nonetheless, it rocked.

IDLTD (BTDLM) - As predicted, Manson told us a wonderful dream he had about a sky of LSD, marijuana trees, a sea of liquor, and a beach of cocaine. While telling us the story he kind of sat on a speaker leaning back and relaxing. At the end of his speech, Manson claimed that God said that God will no longer be spelled G-O-D. Instead it will be.. "Give me a D!! Give me a R! Give me a U!! Give me a G!! Give me an S!! What's that spell?" That was very cool, but every letter sounded like YIHHEEAHHHU! from the crowd. The drugs sign looked awesome (I took some pictures) and the back up singer sounded great. She extended the end of the song along with Ginger for an extra 30 seconds to a minute so Manson would have time to change backstage.

Irresponsible Hate Anthem - Manson walks out in a cop uniform and stops in the middle of the stage surveying the crowd. "And all the children singing to the world... WE HATE LOVE! WE LOVE HATE!" After the crowd chants a bit, the song kicks in like a freight train. Absolutely fucking incredible! The stage looked like a goddamn warzone with explosions and strobe lights. To add to it, at the end of the song a chick (the backup singer I think) walks out behind Manson and shoots him in the back with a shotgun. He fell into the pit where the security guards are, and they drag him backstage. Everything is black...

Antichrist Superstar - After a minute or two of silence in complete darkness, an odd slow drum beat penetrates the silence. Then the eerie gospel music begins playing, and then it hits. Curtains drop, Manson is at the podium, everyone is wearing helmets. The crowd raises their fist in unison. This song has so much power around it. It is spectacular. Pogo's helmet fell off pretty early on, but everyone else's stayed on. Ginger looked very odd in a hooded sweatshirt and a helmet on top.

The Beautiful People - "Hey, New Yorker's you motherfuckers!! I've got one last question for you!" The crowd cheers. "What the fuck is that? I said.. I HAVE ONE LAST QUESTION FOR YOU!!" The crowd roars like a fucking 747. "How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?!!!" This song was fucking incredible. Raw and powerful.

Encore - Rock N' Roll Nigger - No one wanted to leave just yet, so the crowd made as much noise as possible, which transformed into a Manson! Manson! Manson! chant. After a few minutes, the band walks back on stage and Manson walks out with an american flag wrapped around him. The band rips into Rock N' Roll Nigger. At the end of the song, Manson turned the singing over to the backup singer, and wrapping the flag around the mic, he set it on fire. Didn't burn very well, but it kicked ass anyway. Then Manson picked up a flying V guitar and played along with John5 for a few moments, and smashed it on the ground and flung it across the stage, barely missing Twiggy. Then he knocked over Ginger's drums and everything else was beaten and destroyed. A great finish.

This was an incredible show and I bought a "Bigger than Satan" shirt as well. If you have an opportunity to see this tour, I suggest you use it.

- Supamon