 Manson’s pyrotechnics and stage antics were on a entirely different level than Hole’s. Manson, with bride-to-be Rose McGowan watching from just nearby, appeared on stage strapped to a cross made of televisions which rose up from laying flat on the stage to an erect position. At one point he donned leg and arm stilts and a bizarre helmet which caused him to resemble a creature from the late Jim Henson’s "The Dark Crystal." At another juncture in the show, while Manson was dressed in police garb, another person in a police uniform emerged from the rear of the stage with a mock shotgun and proceeded to "shoot" Manson, who had some sort of charge rigged under his shirt to make it appear that he had been shot. For Manson, in contrast to Hole, it appeared that the spectacle of the stage show was more important than the music itself. He spent as much time exposing himself and placing his microphone in different areas of his anatomy as possible, much to the delight of the crowd. The highlight of Manson’s portion of the evening’s festivities was a blazing rendition of their hit "Dope Show," While his band pretty much maintained their positions on the stage throughout the show, Manson ran the stage, doing what he could to excite the crowd and, apparently, himself. While it seemed that Love and Manson tried dividing the fans into two camps, Hole fans versus Manson fans, it seemed that most of the capacity crowd was there to enjoy both acts, and did just so. They were treated to a night that cut across plenty of sonic terrain, from the acoustic pieces of Hole’s encore to the heaviest of Manson’s tunes, in addition to the verbal jabs. Love explained at one break between songs, while taking a drink of water, that playing was tiring because, "unlike some people, when I sing, I mean what I say." |
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