Manson and Cooper, Masters of Madness
By Seth M
Well, the Masters of Madness tour is over, but I was lucky enough to check it out at Mohegan Sun Arena in CT on June 21st ~ and was pleasantly surprised.
You might be thinking, “Surprised? Why??” Well, I have seen both Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper over the years and they have certainly had their ups and downs, not only onstage but off… Between the two frontmen there was more alcohol, drugs, mental institutions, rehabs and even brief jail stints than anyone could keep track of, yet with all that they were alive, touring together, and kickin’ ass.
Picture Me Broken kicked off the show with an about 30 minute set. Picture Me Broken features Brooklyn Allman, whose father is none other than Greg Allman of The Allman Brothers. The band definitely got the crowd ready for the Masters and closed out their set with a cover of Heart’s “Crazy On You;” overall, I’d rate them pretty damn solid.
Now it was time for the younger of the two masters, Mr. Marilyn Manson. The Manson set was about 75 minutes ~ very little (if any) chit chat and the very minimal down time between songs was used to change outfits and set up his various props. Some of the props he’d used before, including the big chair, stilts, Mickey Mouse ears, cake and rock candy (playing the part of crystal meth) during “The Dope Show”), a large mirror and of course the famous podium, bibles and such for “Antichrist Superstar.”
Manson’s performance sounded great and seemed less dark, if you can imagine, from a stage antics perspective. He genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself as he finished out his set with “The Beautiful People” while the crowd was showered with confetti.
After a short set change it was time for the senior Masters of Madness, Alice Cooper, who seemed to barely take time to breathe as he whipped through 18 songs his 90 minute set.
Don’t get me wrong, he was never out of breath and sounded great from the start as he delivered hits including “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “Billion Dollar Babies” while tossing fake dollar bills (“Cooper Cash,” as one of my friends calls it) into the crowd.
Orianthi
He touched on his 80s hits like “Under My Wheels,” “Hey Stoopid,” “Poison,” and “Feed My Frankenstein,” where he was strapped in like Frankenstein and electrocuted. As has been the band’s trademark from the beginning, the stage show, props and overall showmanship was over the top and impressive, proving once again why they’re considered the fathers of shock rock. Alice Cooper has always been made up of great musicians and still is, but I have to say that a highlight of this particular line-up is guitarist Orianthi Panagaris.
Cooper’s set came to a close with a great rendition of “School’s Out” ~ but the show wasn’t over yet. After a few minutes, Cooper returned and began to sing “I’m Eighteen” as Marilyn Manson joined him onstage. Although neither of these artists is a spring chicken, it was definitely a true old school meets new school moment and you can see the mutual respect between the two; Manson even took a second to bow to Cooper and kiss his feet.
Although born at two very different times in rock music history, these musical Masters of Madness somehow fit together very well and put on one hell of a show. If they come to a venue near you, embrace the Madness and get out to see them live.
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All photos by and courtesy of Seth M