the pale emperor

Marilyn Manson
October 29, 2014
The Observatory
Santa Ana, CA

By: Nevra Azerkan

It almost seemed like forever before Marilyn Manson hit the stage at The Observatory. Once he did though, the screams were deafening. The place already seemed to be packed beyond capacity, but the craziness that ensued once the music began was more like a Halloween trick than treat.

MM gave a shout-out to his dad who was in attendance and proceeded to lie on the stage floor for most of the show. This gave fans in the front row more access to him than he probably wanted. His knife shaped mic was definitely a nice touch though. They proceeded to play the hits, the hit covers and a couple new tracks from The Pale Emperor.

The full set included: “Deep Six”, “Disposable Teens”, “mOBSCENE”, “No Reflection”, “Sweet Dreams” (Eurythmics cover), “Cupid Carries a Gun”, “Rock Is Dead”, “The Dope Show”, “Third Day of a Seven Day Binge”, “Personal Jesus” (Depeche Mode cover), “This is the New Shit”, and the encore, “The Beautiful People.” “Mister Superstar and “Irresponsible Hate Anthem” were also on the set list for the encore, but ultimately were not played. This became apparent when the set came to an end abruptly.

The show lasted just under an hour, which seemed a bit on the short side especially after I saw that there were some cuts on the official set list. There were plenty more songs that could have been played. MM was noticeably more out of it than usual and perhaps he wanted to continue on to his own private party. Regardless, the show was a good time. I am disappointed, however, to have not caught it at The Roxy, where I am sure the experience would have been 10x better on Halloween day and in a more intimate venue. Maybe next time.