Warning: This took longer than I expected.
All right folks, in an effort to thwart the crud that's littered this list since I've been on, I'll share my little freelance review of MM's last Austin, TX show. (Munk, if you were there, correct me on any of my fuck ups.) Well, they've got a cool new MM ouija board backdrop with a sun on one side and the moon and stars on the other. Ooh, let me digress for a minute. If anyone does go to a show, it'd help to get there a wee bit early. About half an hour before the door opened, I was sitting with two friends of mine at the end of the line so that I had a convenient view of the doors to the club, and a view of the bus which was parked around the corner. Out of the blue I noticed some people wearing some cool shit that would've been really hard to find in Austin. As it turns out, the guy wearing (from the toes up) the combat boots, black long johns, green t-shirt, Kurt Cobain goofy glasses (know which ones I'm talking about?), Cat in the Hat hat, and laminate (back stage pass), was Twiggy! I knew it was him because a) I remember what he looked like without makeup on, and b) He had those big bad ass Twiggy dreads. On top of that, the guy he was talking to was the amazing Mr. Lifto (see Jim Rose Circus Sideshow). I thought was I was seeing just about made my day. They went their separate ways so I shouted to Lifto and asked what he was doing here, to which he replied, "I'm on vacation!" I felt so cool because I seemed to be the only one in line who knew who these people were. (Either that or everybody else played it very cool.) Anyway, MM takes the stage finally, and the first thing you see are these sets of four dummys suspended via wooden marionette controllers and surgical tubes on either side of the stage. They came strolling out on stage all decked out in what was probably the most androgynous garb I think I've seen them in. New drummer has only these four inch dreads on top of his head, so he doesn't quite look like a seasoned spook yet. Probably biggest change, appearance wise, is the new rectangle that's been shaved right on top of Daisy's head, and Madonna's now dreaded goatee. Musically, I kept holding my breath throughout the entire set while I waited to hear some new stuff. POAAF stuff sounds a tiny bit different, and they played Down In The Park as well as Rock and Roll Nigger during one of the encores, but as far as new stuff goes, the only thing I hadn't heard before was some really percussion heavy song (Madonna left the synth to grab a pair of drumsticks) song that came after My Monkey. Anyway, it was good to see them again, but don't expect to hear much from Smells Like Children. Oh yeah, t-shirts. I take it everyone has seen Beware of God, Kill Your Mom & Dad..., This is your world.., and Lunchbox single cover, but there were two or three that I hadn't seen yet. One, which a few people were wearing outside before the show, was a black light friendly black t with Marilyn Manson and a hand in Beavis & Butthead sign on the front (correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the real hand sign for Satan include an extended thumb?), and We Hate LOVE We Love HATE on the back. Second was silvery glittery Marilyn Manson on front, red glittery EVERLASTING COCKSUCKER on the back. Finally, for all you ringer lovers out there, (ringers are what I've deemed those early 80's t's with the colored collars and sleeves) with a pic of MM himself on the front with Marilyn Manson written above him, and ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR below him. Sorry that took up so much space, but I figured you guys might be wondering what to expect.