Marilyn Manson at the Sound Academy
by Live Music Head
February 2, 2015
Jimmy the
cabbie: "Ah, the Sound Academy...
down there by Cherry Beach
where the
cops take the homeless and beat them."
LMH:
"What? Whaaaaaaat?!"
"Google
it," he says.
It's freezing on this February day,
absolutely
fucking freezing,
as we taxi our way through the snowbanked streets
to no man's
land:
Toronto’s
frozen front.
And when
we arrive at the doors of the venue,
a line-up
of about thirty are huddled
beneath the
Academy's outside heater,
which is
broken.
Of course.
This is rock and roll.
Caper's Catering is parked out front,
but
certainly not there to feed
us.
So some guy orders a pizza
and has it
delivered to the line.
Oh-so rock and roll!
Within 30
minutes we're jumpin' cold
and there's nothing around 'cept
NEXT
Plumbing Supplies
where we were allowed to warm up.
But only for a bit.
I couldn't
feel my toes when I spotted that ice
cream truck
and then sum!
An ice
cream truck, can you believe it?
The driver of which pulled up in front, parked ‘er,
and then walked over to the edge of the frozen water
where two mysterious crates sat on the icy lake.
I shit you not,
for about two hours that ice cream man
shoveled a path to move ‘em out.
Seriously!
And I couldn't help but wonder...
how in the
world are those Mansonites
prancing about like that, so
scantily clad?
Then
again, gotta look hot despite the weather.
That’s rock
and roll!
It was minus 12 celsius,
feeling more like minus 59 celsius down by Lake Ontario,
but hypothermia and frostbite were
forgotten
when a
breakout sing-a-long of Bohemian Rhapsody took place
as the sun
went down.
Quickly
remembered again when it was followed by security
deciding to
conduct a search of us, not inside,
but out.
Seriously!!
And black and red armbands with spikes were confiscated,
along with
a pocket knife.
Ouch!
Lock it to
the pole!
Finally when we moved inside,
we bee-lined
it to the stage,
where we thawed.
Yes we did.
Standing
around in the arctic badlands of Toronto had paid off.
We did it!
We were a
mere two arms-lengths away from the stage,
and warmed,
as the floor
filled up.
Everything felt pretty darn alright then.
With elbow
room, I could even bend down
to remove my
aching foot from my left Doc.
Aaaaaah!
Yes, everything was alright!
But as the openers neared the end of their set,
this Mohawk
guy and long-haired girl bullied their way in,
causing such a shove that the packed floor moved to the left,
pushing us back a row or so of humans.
Noooooo!
Fits of aggression suddenly exploded
and it got tighter
and tighter.
No more
elbow room.
Not even an
inch of space.
Now I understand that one needs
to get their ya-ya's out yes,
but I became seriously uncomfortable
very quickly,
and just a little terrified.
Trying to turn my anxiety on its head just as quickly,
I focused on the tracks from Black Sabbath's Paranoid
(still one
of the greatest rock records ever)
that played overhead,
along with
Helter Skelter by The Beatles.
Fitting.
But I can do this, I thought.
Yes, yes I
can!
After all, the behaviour around
me is only
in the spirit of violence.
According
to mosh pit etiquette,
no one was out to harm me.
I'm cool.
I’m a rock
and roll chick.
And it's not like I haven't been in a mosh pit before.
I must re-affix my boot, or else.
When the
lights dimmed and dry ice swiftly enveloped us,
the sold-out crowd,
as expected,
went absolutely wild!
Uhhhhhh....
no,
the crowd went absolutely fucking apeshit
when
Marilyn Manson finally appeared.
Apeshit!
APESHIT!!
A-P-E-S-H-I-T!!!
And no, I realized
right then I could not do this.
I was not
cool.
I was
fixin’ to die.
By asphyxia!
Claustrophobia!
Suffocation!
Винсент Блак and I managed
to squeeze our way out.
How we
managed it, I do not know,
but thank fucking
god!
I
recovered my breath safely from side stage,
as I watched
with fascination
the
security guards that formed a line from
one end of the stage to the other,
continuously
pulling folks outta the pit.
Rock and
roll at its rawest.
The way it
was meant to be.
I
particularly liked the girl who was pulled out
after being blessed by the
hands of Manson.
She was in
heaven.
And it was
from here,
comfortably
side stage
that I
instantly recognized
Killing
Strangers,
the
opening track from The Pale Emperor,
Manson’s
new release.
Live, I
liked it instantly,
the same
as when I heard it for the first time at home.
For it’s awesome
rock and roll!
Awesome!
Manson came
out to the edge of the stage often
throughout the rest of the show,
where we
could see him,
crouched down
to be face-to-face with his peeps.
He looked
good.
He has
style.
And he’s
way cool.
I suddenly
wanted to be back in the heart of the pit.
The scene
was outrageous yes,
but...
Sweet
Dreams Are Made Of This!
At one
point, a guy came walking toward me
wearing the face of the mastermind
behind the Tate-LaBianca murders
large, across
his chest.
Guts, that’s
what that takes.
And when the show ended,
O.B.
tampons, crushed beer cans,
cigarette butts and sparkles
littered the Academy floor.
Sooooooooooooooooooooo
fucking rock and rolll!
Thank you.
Official website of Marilyn Manson...
http://www.marilynmanson.com/
Official website of the Sound Academy...
http://www.sound-academy.com/
Killing Strangers
from The Pale Emperor
by Marilyn Manson....