Slipknot and Marilyn Manson
The Forum
8/14/2016
Inglewood, California was home to the national tour featuring heavy hitters Slipknot and Marilyn Manson, with special guests of Mice and Men. The tour was rescheduled, from a few months previously, when Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor had to deal with a neck injury.
The Forum was packed, both inside and out parking lots full, thousands of metal heads, rockers, families, bikers, scalpers and headbangers were swarming the area. By the time doors opened at 6:00p.m., hundreds upon hundreds of people were tailgating it, old school the way it used to be done at the first few Ozzfests, years before Slipknot could headline. you could walk by the sea of parked cars, and her people blasting metal, and smoking, drinking and pre-gaming the show.
To say security was tight would be an understatement. Not only was it line, after line after line, but people’s entire belongings and personal spaces were searched, patted down, frisked and arguably, violated, but all in the name of safety right?
Some fans, mostly younger ones, did seem to care about opening act neo metalcore band Of Mice and Men. Though it should be noted, the band, for undisclosed reasons would not allow any photographers from the media to shoot their live set. With songs like “Broken Generation,” and “Bones Exposed,” the crowd was warmed up enough for Marilyn Manson after around 45 minutes.
Marilyn Manson appeared and began a set that was heavy and produced the hits, but lots a lot of song from his hit album from the late 1990s, Antichrist Superstar. Manson is a solo act, but his backing band should not be overlooked or under appreciated. Featuring original bassist Twiggy Ramirez, drummer Gil Sharone, and guitarist Paul Wiley, the band brings back the sound Manson was made into a superstar with, the heavy, dark, and industrial, sinister sounding music that can’t be pigeonholed. Mixing metal, glam, punk, shock rock, goth theatric rock and myriads of other styles, Manson has been known to be a musical iconoclast, and his concerts show why.
With a pasty, pale corpse paint on his face throughout the evening, the stage show was switched up a bit, some banners were flown and a podium with flags featuring the infamous red and black lightning bolts were also part of the show. Even this though was only half of the size of Slipknot’s performance however.
Manson’s voice has gotten deep, matured perhaps, but the Hell he has been through in the public eye over the past couple of decades, including controversy over Columbine, drug abuse, and his public relationships and divorce. of course throughout his stints at writing and acting, he has maintained a music career, by releasing albums and touring.
This tour opening for Slipknot makes sense, both bands came up almost in the same era give or take a few years and both have crossed over into the mainstream what others might consider evil, violent, dark and unsafe for consumption by children. Both bands have been labeled scapegoats for various horrific school shootings over the decades as well.
Manson’s set at this loud and proud hometown show included opening song, “Angel With the Scabbed Wings” and other hits like “The Dope Show,” “Disposable Teens,” “Irresponsible Hate Anthem,” and the hits “Sweet Dreams,” and “The Beautiful People.” Manson’s stellar performance shows that he can defy both critics and categorization of his music, but one thing’s for certain, he will go down in pop music lexicon as one of the greats, like David Bowie, Ozzy, Danzig, and Ronnie James Dio.
Slipknot came on just after 9:35 and for 90 minutes owned the entire arena. The pulsating and erupting bass and percussion was so immense fans could feel the thumping in their chest cavities. it was that loud.
Sometimes if you zone out in the music being played live, or get caught up in the swirling mosh pits, it’s easy to forget that this band is a group of nine raving lunatics and musicians who have paved the way for many modern metal bands. The band’s stage show is larger than life featuring rising, rotating drums, pyrotechnics and more.
Vocalist Corey Taylor is a beast, with a neck brace and all, his voice was at center and command for the duration of the night’s performances. The madness included both old and new hits, such as “Disasterpiece,” “Eyeless,” “Before I Forget,” “Psychosocial,” “Wait and Bleed,” “Duality,’ The Devil In I,” and more. Fans loved every minutes, as people of all ages moshed, head banged and cheered, singing along all the lyrics.
Masked or not, nine members or five members, Slipknot have proved through decades of perseverance that they are a force to be reckoned with in the world of metal. This tour was a perfect way to warm up the younger fans, who didn’t have the chance to see Slipknot 15 years ago like some of the older heads. Knotfest/Ozzfest is right around the corner in around a month, in San Bernardino. So, for for all the DIEHARD, rabid Slipknot fans, Get ready for Round Two, maggots!
