What’s it like touring with Marilyn Manson? As he gears up to hit the UK this week, the awesome September Mourning…
What’s it like touring with the God Of Fuck himself, Mr Marilyn Manson? As he gears up to hit the UK this week, the awesome September Mourning has revealed her tour diary from their American run of dates together…
“We were collecting souls in Florida when I got the email… Marilyn Manson wanted to add us onto some of his U.S. dates. I don’t get many butterflies in my stomach anymore, being that I am only half human… but Mr. Manson has the ability to still stir up a few. We welcomed the offer and set out to meet up with him after our East Coast collections had wrapped.
“On tour, every day starts like the one before. Yes, tour life can be kind of like Groundhog Day. That’s not to say it’s boring, at all… But there is definitely a routine you find yourself falling into. The awesome part of this life comes from the human element of it all. You are in-cahoots for the journey with a cast of characters.
“With Manson, I was fortunate to be out with ‘family’ – albeit a twisted, macabre, dark one at that – just how it should be! I have collected souls with Manson before, and was welcomed back into the fold as if I had never left.
“The first night of this soul collection was at a sold-out House of Blues in San Diego. The stage there is a humble one in regards to Manson’s grand presence, but he seems to like intimate stages at times, and this night would prove that.
“Before the show I have my own time of transformation… Three hours to peel off the layers of humanity. The price you pay for being a reaper-hybrid… one adorned in white and is ghostly pale.
“In and out of this transformation, I took some time to meet and greet some of Manson’s new production staff and reconnect with the ones I knew. I also caught up with Twiggy, who I hadn’t seen in quite a while.
“We took the stage at 8pm. The crowd was ravenous for music and theatrics. The energy in the venue was electric and carried us through to the very last note of our set. The crowd echoed excitement in the air with loud screams and applause. I bid them farewell and announced that Manson would take the stage soon.
“After the changeover, he did just that. He stormed the stage with his band and hypnotised the crowd. Manson comes at you like a tornado: wild, unpredictable, energetic, and all the while highly artistic and challenging. Every night I watch, I learn from him.
The next stop on the tour was The Rialto Theatre in Tucson, Arizona. The theatre itself is a legendary spot, having hosted some of the biggest names in music and theatre. This also happens to be where the notorious bank robber, John Dillinger, was caught just across the street at the Hotel Congress back in the 1930’s. The town itself has a very vintage feel to it.
“We started bringing our world of Mortem to the stage and prepared to check our instruments. 15 minutes into soundcheck, I caught Manson and his Tour Manager out of the corner of my eye.
“As the other reapers continued blazing through one of our songs, I went over to both of them and greeted Manson with a giant hug, thanking him for having us on the tour and talking a bit. Tall, handsome, full of this dark contagious energy… he is quite easy to talk to.
“Later that night I ran into his Tour Manager again at catering. He has some crazy stories himself as he has worked for so many of my favorite bands including Slipknot, Rob Zombie and the legend herself, Dolly Parton. He told me how she has this insane amount of energy and how her whole crew is made up of metal dudes that work on metal tours, and how they all struggle to keep up with her. I’m not crazy about country but who isn’t a little crazy for Dolly Parton?
“We took the stage around 8:00pm. The show was once again sold out. Both Manson and I played to an incredible sea of people…. most of which I ended up meeting at our merch area after the show. There were souls that had driven hours to see us that night. The line continued on until just before the theatre doors closed at the end of the night. We met an insane amount of people on every stop of this tour and to each one of them that came out to support us both… We are grateful.
“The last stop on the tour was Tricky Falls in El Paso, Texas. Again this venue was sold out… or should I say maxed out because when I took the stage on this night the people were packed in like sardines. The venue was a bit limited for the enormity of a rock show that Manson brings but his crew and band always make it work.
“Behind the theatre, before we took the stage we hung with them… chatting, laughing, enjoying the mild night air. Manson’s Tour Manager approached and asked us if we wanted to witness something cool with Paul (Manson’s guitarist) and Gil (Manson’s drummer). He asked me to whisper a band name into his ear. Then he told me Paul and Gil would guess it with only hand gestures and snapping of his fingers. After a few rounds of them getting my band names I took a guess at what was going on… and I was pretty close to learning the secret. These guys had developed a kind of secret Morse code with snaps and gestures that gave the first few letters to who ever was guessing. A game they had developed over years of touring with a bunch of different bands… probably a good way to win a bet over an unsuspecting person at a party.
“The crowd was once again amazing that night. Souls were collected. Memories engrained in us all; a fitting end to a whirlwind three days.
“We said our good-byes to the band and the crew, took some final pictures with some fans who had stayed past our load out to meet us, and left the great state of Texas in our rearview mirror. We were then on our way to Spokane for our final soul collection of the year!”
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