Reader: Weird Uncle Marilyn Manson Is as Scary as the Easter Bunny

Marilyn Manson came to town this week, and Westword's Kyle Harris wrote a review titled "Marilyn Manson Just Isn't Scary Anymore." The story garnered various comments from readers on one theme: Marilyn Manson was never scary.  Raye writes:

I must have been at a different concert than this reporter, or maybe he was hitting the pipe too hard. It was sold out and great, considering Manson's foot is still healing. He might have sounded hoarse, because he had a cold- he'd even had to cancel the meet and greet the night before- and yet he still got up there and engaged and put on a great show. I've never found Manson to be scary, just a whole lot of shock value and a flair for the dramatic.

Jaye adds:

Is.... is he supposed to be scary? I’ve just always found him to be kind of kooky.

Rebecca says:

Real life is what's scary. Thirteen kids locked up in a house, starved, shackled, beaten, and deprived of an education, or even language skills blows the shit out of anything MM has ever done.

David weighs in:

He's about as scary as the Easter Bunny. Take that for what it's worth; some people are scared of the Easter Bunny and I've never understood it.

Read on for more of our coverage of Marilyn Manson.
"Marilyn Manson Just Isn't Scary Anymore"

"Marilyn Manson's Dope Show at the Fillmore"

"Tyler Bates on the Joy of Writing With Marilyn Manson"

Here's what Harris wrote in his original review:

"Blathering about drugs was about as shocking as the shock rocker got — and let’s be honest: Using drugs is a tired rock-and-roll trope, about as surprising in rock as a bass, a guitar and a drum kit.

"The Antichrist Superstar, once considered a possible candidate for Satan incarnate among the evangelical set, is a little shlumpier these days. He ended most songs with an awkward a cappella wind-down, the kind of thing a novice self-conscious blues-rock band might use to try to charm the local brewpub crowd. Nonetheless, he managed to inspire the front of the room, though not the folks at the back, who seemed mostly disengaged.

"In part, that’s because Manson's stage show, which has a reputation for being spectacular, was stripped down. There were no video monitors to bring us up close and personal. There were no fireworks. Outside of a sculpture of two large pistols (presumably the same ones that broke his leg late last year, forcing him to cancel a Denver gig) and some psychotic child scrawl painted on a backdrop, the only real spectacle was a glut of smoke and two people who kept walking onto the stage dressed as doctors, faces masked.

"There was that and his electronic wheelchair, with a gothic tall back a pope might sport on his throne, that Manson used to take a load off and wheel around between bouts of standing. Oh, and he spit a lot.

"Maybe it was his broken leg, the drugs or (take his word for it) the lack of drugs that was subduing him, but Manson just came off as a run-of-the-mill rocker. Perhaps that's because pulling off the high-priest-of-Satan persona in the era of Donald Trump would be a virtually impossible maneuver. Yes, finding something to shock a public that is now used to pedophiles running for office and rapists staying in power couldn’t be an easy task. But I wished he would have done something to ruffle the crowd (not point an automatic rifle at us, as he did at a show in San Bernardino, a satirical joke that fell flat and for which he later apologized).

"Manson came off as soft in this most unfriendly time we’re living in, when Garrison Keillor and Aziz Ansari — iconic nice guys — have been blasted for sexual misconduct. Nah, in this era, Manson just couldn't be monstrous enough for his old shtick to work."

What do you think of Marilyn Manson? Post a comment or email [email protected]. Read Kyle Harris' full review here.