LIVE MUSIC REVIEW: MARILYN MANSON AND PICTURE ME BROKEN

Venue: The Fillmore – Charlotte, NC

We rolled up to The Fillmore around 8pm and the first thing you can’t help but notice is the insane line to this sold out show. Easily, several hundred people deep, all proudly wearing the uniform of the day: black, black and more black.

Across the street, religious protesters lined up and traded insults with the crowd, screaming the usual apocalyptic nonsense about how we’ll all be burning in hell for going to a Marilyn Manson concert.

Once inside, we found a good spot and dug in, ready to be corrupted.

The opening act, Picture Me Broken, left me rather conflicted. The band is excellent. Seriously. They have wonderful technical chops, and while the sound mix at The Fillmore was a little problematic, they still sounded great. Shaun Foist (Drummer) delivers arrhythmia inducing beats at a machine gun pace. Dual guitarists Jimmy and Dante may look like they belong in two completely different bands, but their sound and style complements each other quite well.

So, you may be wondering what about this band that I obviously like has me so conflicted? Ultimately, it’s their lead singer, Brooklyn Allman. It’s easy to dismiss her as little more than a fusion of better influences that have been there, done that already, but you’d be wrong. She comes out onstage looking like a visual blend of No Doubt era Gwen Stefani and post-meltdown Miley Cyrus. Her vocal range is acceptable, and she shows it off by weaving her way through several songs and really digs deep with a guttural sound very similar to Morgan Lander (Kittie) one minute and more melodic the next.

As much as I like the band, she just didn’t blow me away until the last song of the set. After all the screaming and mayhem, they KILLED a cover of Heart’s Crazy On You. This is the point where I realized what was wrong. She’s an extremely talented vocalist that is being given horrible songs to work with. She’s clearly capable, the band is fantastic, but they need a good producer… desperately.

Let’s face it, if you’re a talented band with an amazing vocalist and your absolute best song is a cover, you need someone to step in and give you some guidance. Speaking of which, Marilyn Manson was there too.

After a short break and set prep, the curtain fell and Manson took the stage.

I’ve seen Marilyn Manson several times over the years, and they rarely disappoint. Tonight was no exception, and honestly, it’s the smaller, more intimate, venues like The Fillmore where he really shines.

I’m not going to blow smoke. Manson’s better days may be behind him. He’s relying a lot more on looped vocals, background tracks, and crowd singing (all of which are warning signs that his voice may be shot.) In spite of this, or maybe because of it, he still knows how to put on one hell of a sold out show. Multiple props, set changes, wardrobe changes and the usual Manson shenanigans made this a very enjoyable show.

Watch Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People”
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The set list reads like a “Best Of” album, with very little of his new material:

Angel with the Scabbed Wings

Disposable Teens

sAint

I Don’t Like the Drugs

This is the New Shit

The Dope Show

KaBoom KaBoom

Sweet Dreams

Beautiful People

I give this show 4 out of 5 skulls