Marilyn Manson & Slayer live!

Marilyn Manson, Slayer
Allstate Arena, Rosemont
Monday, August 13, 2007

Substance trumped style during one of the oddest double-headliner bills in recent memory, as legendary thrash gods Slayer and shock rocker Marilyn Manson performed at the Allstate Arena on Monday. Criticizing Christianity is about the only thing the two artists have in common (with Manson’s 1996 album Antichrist Superstar and Slayer’s entire career, most recently with 2007’s Christ Illusion). Fans from both camps showed up dressed mainly in funeral black, with corsets and neon highlights separating the Manson fans from the rest.

In the end, it was Slayer’s night to reign, as the 26-year veterans thrashed their way through a career-spanning 70-minute set that showcased the band’s tight chemistry and musicianship, while Manson’s set relied on costume changes, freaky imagery and a few past hits to bolster the 90-minute show heavy with songs from the band’s latest offering, Eat Me, Drink Me.

Near the end of Slayer’s set, singer/bassist Tom Araya thanked the crowd for “coming out early” to see his band, perhaps a slight dig at the notion that Slayer would even be opening for the likes of Manson. Although some of the songs in Slayer’s set were a decade old or more, they seemed more relevant than ever, given the state of world affairs. “Chemical Warfare” blended into “Jihad” as Araya bit off his lyrics that could be simultaneously interpreted as glorifying and criticizing warfare. Araya dedicated “Mandatory Suicide” to soldiers currently dying in war around the world as hulking guitar shredder Kerry King ripped through rapid-fire solos. In another seemingly sarcastic moment, Araya introduced “Cult” as a song “celebrating life.” The irony wasn’t lost on the headbanging and devil-horn waving crowd who packed the arena’s lower level — though attendance was sparse in the balcony.

But it wasn’t all death and destruction for Slayer. Araya could be seen cracking a genuine smile of delight to his bandmates as they plunged into classics “South Of Heaven” and “Angel Of Death.”

In contrast, Manson worked harder to give his fans what they wanted: all the visual shock set to a musical style that owes much to David Bowie and Alice Cooper. Manson took the stage holding a butcher knife microphone for “If I Was Your Vampire,” and from there the focus was not necessarily on the music, but on theatrics. Manson writhed onstage, he writhed and twisted on a gigantic high chair, and he even writhed on a levitating microphone stand. His neon-pink eye mask glowed eerily for “The Dope Show,” during which Manson allowed the crowd to sing the chorus, perhaps to rest his spent vocal chords. At one point, he donned a silver boxing robe while surrounded by red velvet ropes, and he removed the head of an animated, life-like robot.

For the most part, the crowd eagerly ate it up, especially during past hits. Glowing cellphone screens and a few lighters illuminated the crowd during the slow drone cover of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This),” and fans giddily chanted the “Be obscene/Be, be obscene” chorus to “Mobscene.” Manson dredged up past theatrics for “Antichrist Superstar” when he took to an oversized pulpit adorned with the red-and-black lightning bolt logo. He thrashed around robotically, slapped away news conference-style prop microphones and apparently lit a Bible on fire, before tossing it behind him to a waiting stagehand to douse the flames. Although well choreographed, the shock rocker has done it all before and seems to have run out of new shocking ideas.

— Jason Scales

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly