I attended the Monster Magnet/Hole/Marilyn Manson show on Sunday March 14th at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles. I missed Monster Magnet and got there during Hole's set but instead of watching her piss and moan, I went to the Forum Club. For anyone who's never been to the LA Forum, the Forum Club is essentially a VIP bar that you need a pass to get into. Unlike other buildings where the backstage parties occur backstage, the main happening here usually takes place at the Forum Club. So me and my partner headed to the bar and spotted the likes of Robyn Finck, Mike Inez, Damon Johnson from Brother Cain, Scott Ian, Whitfield Crane, Billy Milano, Tim from Trigger Pimp, Eric Singer, Bobby Blotzer, MTV's John Norris, and yer typical host of industry fucks and beautiful women.

I was told in advance that Manson wouldn't be on until 9:30-9:45pm but they didn't hit the stage till around 10:00pm. The Forum looked rather full, say 90% and the band was sizzling. Everything seemed to be going great until "Rock Is Dead" which is when Marilyn got hurt. From what I could tell, and this is what most people I spoke to afterwards concluded as well, Manson was getting into his performance when he jumped or fell off a monitor and landed wrong. Some people say they saw his ankle give way and bend unnaturally. Manson lay on the ground for a while and didn't move. A crew member crawled out to see if he was okay and obviously he was not. The band finished the song sans singer and John5 had to walk around the still prone Marilyn to shut of his effects rack. Manson was taken away over the shoulder of a bodyguard type. The crowd was kept in the dark until the first announcement explained that the band would be back after "technical difficulties" were fixed. About five minutes later, a second announcement explained that 'due to injury, the band would be unable to continue.' The announcements were done rather well as they politely asked fans to leave in an orderly fashion and most fans while upset that the show ended early seemed to understand that something unexpected had happened.

The after-show Forum club scene was once again a jam-packed crowded mess. We stayed a while waiting for the traffic outside the building to die down some. Twiggy, Ginger, and John5 all made an appearance. I spoke to John who I've known for several years and he told me that Manson had really fucked up his ankle. When I asked him if there was going to be a show on Monday night in San Diego he said it was "doubtful." No one really seemed to know what was up for the rest of the tour either.

- WyteDevil@aol.com