Ok.. first off, a wee bit of background info. I was at the cleveland show on the 19th (rudy glares at chicken killer) so I'm gonna just kinda compare the two shows I suppose. I was somewhat impressed by the cleveland show.. Something was missing though. It wasn't like it used to be (not that it ever was like it used to be)
So at the cleveland show, we got treated to the entire (I would assume) stage show. It was really pretty interesting. It seemed to me that manson just really wasn't into it tho. I was in the front row, pretty much center and the 'pussy shouter' was right on my back. So when manson told everyone to beat him up, I'm like 'great.. someone is gonna fucking miss hitting him and get me' Luckily no one really attacked the bastard. Tho I was a bit paranoid about manson jumping into the crowd. I think he could have made the jump, but I most likely would have gotten a boot in the head.. and those boots had a lot of buckles..
Now, onto the buffalo show. It was at the same place as their last buffalo show (Ogden street, around 2000 people I think) which sold out last time. Why they didn't change the venue, I have no clue. There was NO room on this stage for any props. The organ wasn't there, the step that madonna and ginger play on wasn't there. Nothing. The podium never came out, and the concert didn't go far enough to see if the mic with flowers on it came out...
I get into the venue and work my way up front. 2nd row, but its strange, the barricade is at least 3 feet farther back than it normally is at this place. Maybe its just something manson wants I figure. It was pretty far away in Cleveland too. So I sit through NYL. I see nothing in them.. The crowd was fucking nuts. Even during NYL there were shitloads of crowdriders. I found myself becoming extremely agitated by these motherfuckers. NYL ends, and the roadies come out and start setting up the stage for manson (what little setup it needed.) While we were standing there, I commented to myself that it was nice to have a solid barricade. The one in cleveland was in some sort of diamond pattern I think, and I just didn't feel safe.. It didn't feel solid.
Rudy's stupidity comes through here. About 20 minutes into the setup for manson, the fucking barricade collapsed. WHAT THE FUCK!?! Thats not fucking cool. Being crushed to death is a really fucking big fear of mine so I start moving my way to the back. They start making announcements over the PA that people should move back one step. The stupid motherfuckers scream and move forward. Damn, I hate people.
So I guess they fix the barricade, and the lights go down. There was a LONG time between when the lights went off and manson came out. Probably 10 minutes. I should have seen it as a problem. I guess I just figured that it was some sort of staging fuckup because they were used to a bigger stage. Out they come, and angel with the scabbed wings starts. Crowd goes wild, blah blah blah. There was something beautiful there. Maybe it was the size of the stage, maybe it was what would be revealed to me later, but manson was ALIVE. It really didn't appear to be an act. Next was GYG (I think) and then came Dogma. I truly fucking hope there is a good audio tape of this show. You all HAVE to hear this scream that manson let out during dogma. It was completely unbelievable. It blows everything away, even the scream on the radio show tape.
You really have to understand how small this club is. Manson was on the cube, and he could touch the lights hanging on the ceiling. It become obvious to me right there that the size of the stage really does matter. I remember we had the discussion on the list some time ago about what would happen in larger venues, and now we're seeing it happen (side note, I started laughing my ass off half way through the cleveland show because I looked up and saw the balcony. Anyone who knows their list history will remember Sara Lee post #457 reguarding how manson would get his bodily fluids on those in the back of a stadium or on a balcony :) On they go with the rest of the set. Its really fucking intense. really intense. They were on self destruct mode. I was still paranoid about the barrier breaking, and the fact that the three people I love in this world were all probably up leaning on it wasn't helping. Manson gives the 'how does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?' thing and they launch into TBP. Something was fucked up tho. I could barely hear Zimzum over the vocals. The song ends, the lights drop. Fuck I think..
They come out, do a few more songs, and go off before the encore. They come out for the encore and do Cake and Sodomy. It was a great version. Its one of those moments I can't describe. Manson throws the mic into the ground HARD. The lights go down. Next up comes misery machine. Umm.. well.. Manson sang I think one or two verses "Man in the front got a sinister grin" maybe a bit more. He throws the mic down again and starts to go for the Mic stand. I think he did this in Cleveland, so I really didn't think much of it.. But he was putting WAY too much behind that swing for it to be an act. Fuck. Zim runs, twiggy runs, madonna runs (I think) and poor ginger is still sitting there. Swing 2 (or was it 3) of the mic stand gets the cymbals. The next swing took out some drum. I couldn't tell which it was, but there was a fucking HUGE sound as it was destroyed. Ginger starts to run. I'm describing this the best I can remember because the strobe was going mad at this point. They go off stage, and the show ends.
Soo.. It was a short show, but it was intense.. I was really, truly scared for ginger. This is the first incident of ginger abuse I've seen, and all I could think of is the vid of manson lighting Sara Lee on fire. Damn scary.
It took me awhile to figure out just what the fuck manson looked like/was acting like. I think it was 95 percent tim curry from RHPS and 5 percent trent. ok, the trent was barely there, but at one point he walked over to zimzum and tried to mount him kinda like reznor does live/did in the MOTP video. Thats not a really perfect description of how he was acting, but its the best I can think of. He seemed a fuck of a lot more natural on the small stage. When he stood up on the cube, he towered like a giant. When he whipped his body from front to back, you got the feeling that he was covering the entire stage with his body.
Fear is what makes the show for me I suppose. The buffalo show did a hell of a lot more for me than the cleveland show. Then again, I felt like shit for most of it. Its amazing how much one can worry for people. It seemed as though I was watching a video. Some part of me wasn't completely there. It was a good feeling. What am I trying to say? I don't know.. I guess its that I'd trade all the stage show antics for a small, intimate stage, lots of smoke, and some colored lights.

-rudy <-- 2 shows down, one to go.

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