I went to the show at the UCF Arena on 4/15/97 not knowing what to think about the man Marilyn Manson. I am a fan of some of his more popular songs that have been on MTV and on radio stations in the area. This was the second show of Manson's I had been to. The first show that I attended was in late 1994 or early 1995 (sorry I can't remember the exact date) at The University of Illinois' Assembly Hall in Champaign, Illinois. I saw Marilyn Manson (before I had ever heard of him) open for Nine Inch Nails. This was a pretty good performance by Manson and I do remember many of his devoted fans there singing along to his lyrics as he performed. It however didn't prepare me for what I was going to experience on Tuesday night.

On the way to the show my girlfriend and I were listening to two radio stations that had live interviews with Manson. The first was WJRR 101.1 a local rock station out of Orlando. In this interview most of the questions centered around the many protesters expected to be at the concert. Mr. Manson gave quite a bit of thought to most of the questions before answering. When asked about what he thought about the protesters expected at the concert, his reply was something like "They have their right to protest just as I have the right to perform." He also informed the station of all the untrue rumors about him (i.e. killing puppies and kittens onstage, having anal sex with bandmates onstage, and molesting children onstage.) The other station I heard with a live interview of Manson was WKRO an alternative rock station out of Daytona Beach. They asked very similar questions as the aforementioned station. However, their were a few interesting questions they did ask. Mr. Manson was asked why the show in Honolulu was cut short last week. Manson's reply was that he had fallen onstage and when he came down his hand landed on a piece of jagged glass that cut a major artery and he had to be rushed to the hospital. Another thing that he mentioned is that he is NOT satanic and that he believes in Christianity but not in the direction that Christianity is going. He also told the station that he was having a more difficult time securing venues to play in the "Bible Belt" south.

When we arrived at the show there were already many fans, protesters, and policemen at the show. Many of the protesters were chanting "Jesus loves you," or "Jesus died for you." I didn't mind that the protesters that were handing out literature. I just took what they handed me and went on my way. The protesters that did bother me were the ones that would try to walk along side of me and other concert-goers all the way up to the building and talk to us if we didn't take their literature. With all of the protesters there I felt as if I were on trial for going to a concert! I felt like I was walking up the steps to a courtroom on trial for murder.

We arrived inside just in enough time to catch the opening act Helmet. I do enjoy Helmet and I thought they did pretty well but they were not who I had came to see. Helmet however was extremely loud. I've been to about 15-20 concerts and they were perhaps the loudest. After Helmet there was about a 15 minute intermission before the second act came on which was a group of 3 cello players and a drummer (sorry I didn't get the group's name.) One of the cello players a lady was also the lead singer. The singer cracked a few jokes. One of them was that older people that try to commit suicide are statistically more successful, which is great for you Floridians. I thought this group was unique and enjoyed them, whoever my girlfriend did not enjoy them. After their performance there was aboout another 20 minute delay.

When the moment arrived and the curtains were thrown back, Mr. Manson stood alone with the spotlight only on him and a barreling cheer filled the arena. Mr. Manson was a great performer and definitely worth the admission price which was $22. Most of the songs were from Antichrist Superstar. I'm sorry I didn't recognize all of his songs because I am such a new fan of his. It was the heart and soul that he put into his performance that I enjoyed so much and the events that are completely dumbfounding and outrageous that surround his show. I can't believe that in the USA he is being censored and not allowed to play in certain venues.

A very memorable point in the show was when he came out on the huge metal stilts and cane supports that are sometimes used in his music videos. He was on the stilts for the second and third songs. The stilts somehow made him look like a spider.

For most of the concert there was a lot of religious imagery. In the background was what looked like a church wall with a stained glass picture of Jesus. After about two-thirds of the concert this was replaced with the "electric shock" symbol flag in the background and Mr. Manson singing from a podium with the electric shock symbol on it, while Mr. Manson was dressed in a red and black suit. For the last two songs of the concert Mr. Manson was wearing nothing but a skirt that was actually the US flag.

Of course the most popular songs were Tourniquet, Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), and The Beautiful People (can't wait to see if or what he and Snoop Dogg will do with this song.) During these songs Mr. Manson would sing some of the song and let the crowd sing some.

Mr. Manson was also quite destructive. He threw countless microphones and water bottles into the crowd. He also threw his microphone stand at his poor roadie one time (it looked as if it did strike him however it must not have hurt him because he came out many times after that.) Mr. Manson also threw the mic stand at the drum set but did not succeed in damaging it. I don't think that you could pay me enough money to be his roadie.

I also loved seeing the some of the scantily clad women inside scraping past the law. There was one women I saw wearing shorts and duct tape over her nipples and nothing else.

Here are some of the very relevant quotes from Mr. Manson. "There were some people that didn't want you to come in here tonight. Now is your chance to tell some of these fuckers off." However the best quote was "There was also another person that was misunderstood and they hung him up on a cross."

The day after the concert I saw on the local news that two of the protesters were arrested at the concert. (Hmmmm none of the concert-goers were arrested. So what does that tell everyone???)

Send questions or comments to ymerej@sprynet.com