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Willamette Week's Art Director, Kathleen Marie, is a huge Marilyn Manson fan. So not only did she shoot this show, we also let her tell you about it. See both her photos and writeup below:
At the Roseland Theater Wednesday night, two years and one album since his last Portland show, Marilyn Manson—the band and the man himself, dressed to the nines in modest layers of worn black and painted up a la the Golden Age of Grotesque—slithered and screamed all over the stage for a sold-out crowd. The onstage energy was frightening and fast. They played all the required sing-alongs, from "Rock is Dead," the covers of "Sweet Dreams" and "Personal Jesus" and, of course, "The Beautiful People," and ripped the crowd back down with slower, bluesier songs from new album The Pale Emperor. Twice, an explosion of white glitter covered everyone in the pit. There was a moment when he received an unintentional fog-machine blast to the face, but then, worse has happened to him over the years. Several times, he rested his hands on people as if to exclaim, "YOU ARE SAVED!" Finally, he brought out a bouquet of blood-stained lilies, before saying goodbye with "Coma White."
Growing up in the commercialized tourist wasteland of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, while you might have been listening to your Cobains, your Reznors and your Spears, I had Manson. Some older fans might say he has sold out over the years, but he knows a world far more brutal than what many in Portland see. His performance is a confession of those sins, and I fear that, the Pacific Northwest will never understand what he's really about, as proven by the few in the audience who took the opportunity to act out violently toward others in the crowd. Go back home and play your Machine Head albums—you're still not ready for this.
All photos by Kathleen Marie.
WWeek 2015