On This Day in History

On this date in history, 2/13/1997, a good friend and I witnessed the diabolical Marilyn Manson utterly destroy a capacity crowd at the Pepsi Coliseum in Indianapolis. Manson was touring the Antichrist Superstar album and he was at the height of his popularity/notoriety. There was definitely a feeling in the air that literally ANYTHING could happen. The opening all female band, L7, had just played a really solid set and as we waited for the former Brian Warner and his interestingly named band mates (Twiggy Ramirez, Madonna Wayne Gacy, Ginger Fish, and the mysterious new guitar player, Zim Zum) to take the stage, the power tripping security steroid squad decided to make us all sit on the floor. Needless to say, a Manson crowd tends to be full of malcontents and non-conformists, so we didn’t take this order too kindly! When Manson hit the stage to the crushing industrial martial onslaught of “Angel With The Scabbed Wings”, we were up and frenzied! This was the first time I saw Manson headline and he was inspired. As crazy looking as the entire band was, it was the sinister and coldly charismatic front man who commanded our attention. He did some really creative theatrical stuff up there, from the stark lighting effect of him holding a simple construction lamp on an extension cord to illuminate himself during “Sweet Dreams”, to the pulpit where he tore pages from a bible and then threw the ruined book into the crowd during “Antichrist Superstar”, he knew he would be getting strong reactions! This was one of the few times I’ve ever witnessed people outside the venue protesting before a concert. They didn’t stop us…and we witnessed an incredible show. It’s not for everyone, but the best things never are!

Written By Braddon S. Williams aka “The Concert Critic”