The Twins of Evil, Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie, are back at it again for a second co-headlining tour through the United States. After a reschedule due to severe rain and flooding, the bands delivered a night to remember at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia on Tuesday, July 31, 2018. With the venue being just 30 miles from our nation’s capital, many concert goers traveled in from Washington DC and surrounding areas.
Photos by Theresa Lynn of Twisted Tendencies
Canadian rockers, Deadly Apples, opened the show with a high energy set delivering a mix of industrial rock and electronic sound. The band was formed in 2002 and after a seven-year hiatus, they’re making moves and exploring a more diverse sound which is introduced in their new album, Petty, to be released this fall.
Next, Marilyn Manson took the stage, kicking off the set with “Irresponsible Hate Anthem” and “Angel with the Scabbed Wings” from 1996 album, Antichrist Superstar. The rest of the set included fan favorites, “Disposable Teens “, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” (Eurythmics cover), and “The Beautiful People”. Manson recently released tenth studio album, Heaven Upside Down, in October of last year and included the album songs “Kill4Me” and “Say10” in the night’s setlist. Manson is no stranger to doing completely shocking things at live shows. During “Kill4Me”, Manson invited four fans on stage and at his request, they removed their tops and danced partially nude to the song. The show showcased lots of backdrop, lighting, and wardrobe changes. During “The Dope Show”, Manson came out in long black overcoat covered in black feathers to a blue lit stage and a huge ‘DRUGS’ backdrop. For the encore, Manson performed the band’s new single, “Cry Little Sister” (Gerard McMahon cover) from the iconic Lost Boys soundtrack. Check out Marilyn Manson’s spin on the song here:
The boys of Rob Zombie came out in their famous horror themed get-ups. The stage was filled with large video screens showing video clips of movie scenes and horror graphics, and plenty of flashing lights. Like Manson, the band took it back to the 90s and started off with “Meet the Creeper” and “Superbeast” from 1998 album, Hellbilly Deluxe. The lights went off and the stage went black with only John 5’s glowing LED lit guitar in sight. The stage filled with green light as Rob Zombie informed the crowd that it was John 5’s birthday. The crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to him in unison before a giant 10-foot alien-robot joined the band on stage and danced alongside them during 2016 jam, “Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.”. The rest of the set included fan favorites such as “Living Dead Girl”, a few covers, and an epic guitar solo by John 5. The band pleased the crowd with two popular White Zombie songs, “More Human Than Human” and “Thunder Kiss ’65”, in their set as well as “Blitzkrieg Bop” by the Ramones. The last song of the main set became one of the highlights of the night; Manson came out on stage to join Zombie in a live performance of “Helter Skelter”, a dark and eerie Beatles cover from their 1968 self-titled double album, also known as the White Album. The song was paired with a tribute to Charles Manson on the video screens. In 1969, Charles Manson often spoke to his followers, known as The Manson Family, about Helter Skelter, an apocalyptic war arising from racial tensions between blacks and whites. The idea to collaborate on the song was Rob Zombie’s idea. “We had been talking about doing something together for these shows — that [Manson] should come onstage during my set and we’d do a song.” Zombie said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “At first it was just, ‘I’ll come onstage during your show and jam and we’ll do one of your songs.’ But I was like, ‘Ah, if we could think of something better than that…’ It wasn’t until later that night that I texted him about the ‘Helter Skelter’ idea. And he said, ‘Cool. Let’s do it.’” Listen to the official track here:
After a brief break, a movie trailer displayed on the screens for 3 from Hell, an upcoming American horror film written and directed by Rob Zombie. The movie is said to release in 2019 as a follow-up to his 2003 film House of 1000 Corpses and its 2005 sequel The Devil’s Rejects. 2019 is promising as an exciting year for Rob Zombie since he also confirmed that their next new album will be released early in the year. The band ended the night with an energetic performance of 1998 Hellbilly Deluxe mega hit “Dragula”, “The Life and Times of a Teenage Rock God”, and “(Go to) California”.
Marilyn Manson’s Setlist:
Irresponsible Hate Anthem
Angel With the Scabbed Wings
This Is the New Shit
Disposable Teens
mOBSCENE
Say10
The Dope Show
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (Eurythmics cover)
Kill4Me
Antichrist Superstar
The Beautiful People
Encore:
Cry Little Sister (Gerard McMann cover)
Rob Zombie’s Setlist:
Meet the Creeper
Superbeast
Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.
Living Dead Girl
In the Age of the Consecrated Vampire We All Get High
Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown
More Human Than Human (White Zombie)
Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)
Guitar Solo (with snippet of “DDD” by John… more )
Thunder Kiss ’65 (White Zombie)
Blitzkrieg Bop (Ramones cover) (followed by ending of “Thunder Kiss ‘65”)
Helter Skelter ft. Marilyn Manson (The Beatles cover)
Encore:
“3 from Hell” Trailer
Dragula
The Life and Times of a Teenage Rock God
(Go to) California