Why I Suck: Worst Shows Ever #10

As a music lover, I've been to A LOT of shows - huge sold out stadium shows, tiny bar shows with a handful of people, awesome shows that lived up to and exceeded all expectations and shows that were great but for a reason I never could have anticipated. But this isn't about those shows...this is about the AWFUL shows. The shows that make you feel like you wasted your time and money...the ones that leave a pit in your stomach and may even make you dislike a band that you used to love. Sometimes its the band, sometimes other factors but no matter what the cause these shows were terrible. These are my top 10 horrible shows.*

10. Marilyn Manson - Five Seasons Center, Cedar Rapids

I hate to call this one of the worst shows ever because it was truly amazing. It was the Rock is Dead Tour...one third of the show consisted of stuff from the Mechanical Animals album and two thirds consisted of Antichrist Super Star and earlier. The remainder of the tour had just been canceled a few days before due to pressure after the Columbine shootings, so I was hoping for a longer than normal, all stops pulled out "End of tour/Farewell" show. I live in Iowa...no one ends there tour here, I was hoping for something special. I got something special alright, a nice big kick to the furry beanbag (or so it seemed).

A grainy picture of the Marilyn Manson show.

This was a BIG production. Pyrotechnics, elaborate sets, back-up singers, people on stilts, and awesome music. It was really shaping up to be a great show. I liked the Mechanical Animal stuff and was impressed with the performances of Drugs, The Dope Show, etc... But I was really looking forward to the Antichrist stuff. I had seen the Antichrist tour a couple times and it was always amazing. Plus, Antichrist Superstar was still my favorite album at the time. During the Antichrist set, a podium/pulpit is set up and Marilyn Mason "preaches" through the songs and at one point acts like a puppet master for the audience. There is this sort of Nazi propaganda type feel with all the bands in matching suits, boots, and lightning bolt armbands...with big lightning bolt banners hanging behind them. It's hard to convey if you haven't seen it in person but it is stunning and very powerful. I never believed in Manson as a leader or role model but as a entertainer he is great.

A poor recreation of the smiley face incident.

The band just starts playing, and Manson is singing from his podium. It is great. I really couldn't be happier with the show. Then all of a sudden it all ended. I can't tell you what happened for sure, but here is what looked like happened from our vantage point. It looked like one of the roadies or someone from the tour had placed a large smiley face sticker over the lightning bolt symbol on Manson's podium. I actually thought it was funny and seemed like the kind of gag that someone would play on the last show of a major tour. No big deal, right? Wrong. Manson noticed about halfway through the song and didn't look happy about it. Like it was ruining his evil reputation or something. He tries to peel the sticker off but is unsuccessful. He finishes the song and walks off stage. The band stands on stage a couple minutes then walks off. We wait about 15 minutes for Manson to come back on stage but the house lights come on and the security people start herding people to the door.

WHAT? It was 40 minutes into a concert that should have been two hours at the least. Walking out of the concert hall, all the fans were talking about "What an amazing show it was" and all I could was that they must have never seen Marilyn Manson before because they just got screwed out of the majority of the show. I had seen Manson as an opening act perform a show this long. Sure what we saw was good, but it was still only 1/3 of the show...like paying full price to only see the first three innings of a baseball game. I wish I was like the younger kids seeing Marilyn Manson for the first time so I wouldn't know what I was missing because I felt totally ripped off. All because of a smiley face sticker. Seriously? You take yourself so seriously that you end a concert (a concert that like 10,000 kids paid $30 each to see) because of a smiley face sticker. I lost a lot of respect for Marilyn Manson that day. He no longer seemed like the misfit that I could relate to, he now seemed like spoiled prima donna rockstar. I expected this type of behavior from Axl Rose not Marilyn Manson.

It doesn't help that a couple years later, we drive to Omaha to see Marilyn Manson on the Coma Tour...but it was canceled due to a blizzard in Wisconsin. Supposedly the equipment trailers couldn't make it in time to set up. I know that is not Manson's fault but it was a disappointment...the bigger disappointment was that it wasn't announced on the radio or anything. We didn't find out until we drove 2 hours to the arena, walked up and read a note on the door. Really? I have seen him in concert since, but I am always a little hesitant to commit to a long distance drive and am not nearly as enthusiastic about it as I once was. I am still a fan, but the behavior from the Cedar Rapids show made me not want to be the hardcore fan that I had previously been.