Review: Marilyn Manson excites at Wolverhampton’s Civic Hall
- Manson brought his theatrical show to Wolverhampton’s Civic Hall on Saturday November 21st 2015
- The crowd were ignited with a mixture of old and new material
- Metal supergroup Krokodil supported with a ferocious set
Walking on in a haze of blue mist, Krokodil don their instruments, and, facing off their audience in a line right at the front of the stage, wage a sonic attack on the Civic Hall. Delighted with the wave of sound crashing about them, the crowd give a roar of appreciation as, reaching the end of their first track ‘Shatter’, they launch, with just a few words of thanks, into the next. Krokodil’s sound is expertly executed: rich, distorted guitars; precise and articulate bass and drum unit; with Simon Wright’s vocals cutting through with scope and ferocity. This comes as little surprise, however, since Krokodil are something of a metal supergroup – with members coming from bands Gallows, SikTh, Liber Necris, Hexes & Cry for Silence. Playing songs from last year’s debut album Nachash, Krokodil give a short, but fittingly intense burst of energy to kickstart the crowd.
Suspense begins to grip the room. A few shapes move across the stage, but for a while nothing happens – until ‘Satan Is Real’ by The Louvin Brothers comes wafting through the speakers; quietly at first, then menacingly rising in volume until it’s juxtaposed by slow-groove hip hop – which then cuts off to the start of ‘Deep Six,’ the lead single from Marilyn Manson‘s new album The Pale Emperor. Red lights flash as we get the first glimpse of Manson himself, which causes the crowd to surge forward and start bouncing ecstatically.
As well as playing several from the new album, Manson doesn’t disappoint with a host of classics, such as ‘mOBSCENE’, which ignites the crowd early on, ‘The Dope Show’ and ‘The Beautiful People’. As his fans have come to expect, Manson incorporated several costumes into his set, plus several props such as giant stilts and crutches for ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These)’, and his pulpit, towering over the stage, for ‘Antichrist Superstar’. Although he no longer employs the same shock tactics he used to, Manson still gives an exciting and impulsive performance – nothing about his destruction of the press microphones on his pulpit, or the snapping of wires using his neck as leverage, seems staged or forced. He still gives the impression of someone free from cultural boxes, and that is what he represents for his fans and they evidently, now as ever, love him for it. And for all that Manson’s music and behaviour have always dealt with darker subjects, he shows great sincerity with the colours of the French flag portrayed in lighting before the show; and his encore of ‘Coma White’ from 1998’s Mechanical Animals, is a thought-provoking end, with artificial snow falling as the band exit without another word.
Whatever your opinion of Marilyn Manson, this evening he proved his continued relevance and his capacity for putting on a great show.
