Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Marilyn Manson at the Sound Academy




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....