LITTLE ROCK — Halloween beckons at the end of the month, and a couple of shock rockers - Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson - are in town this weekend, leading the way toward frightful delights.
Sponsoring radio station KDJE-FM, 100.3 (The Edge) is calling it Monster Ball 2012, and the marketers are calling it the Twins of Evil Tour. Take your pick, or take both.
Careers can be made - witness the careers of Ozzy Osbourne and Alice Cooper - in shocking people sufficiently.
Marilyn Manson, for one, might not be so well known if he had continued with his previous career as a journalist. Born Bryan Werner, he was a student at an art college in Fort Lauderdale, Fla .,where he worked for a music magazine, apparently learning a thing or two about how to make it in the music industry.
“I used to be a writer, but I quit,” Manson says. “Before I picked up a microphone, I putdown the typewriter. I was too much a part of the story, too into it. And my friend Hunter S. Thompson told me my job was to be more of a storyteller. After three months of journalism school, I had learned that it was much easier to make an interesting story if you’re criticizing someone, rather than complimenting them, so I do what I can on my end of things.”
He cites a few of his influences: seeing Alice Cooper and KISS and reading No One Here Gets Out Alive, the biography of the late Jim Morrison, the singer for The Doors.
“Later, the possibilities of blending metal and alternative music sort of made sense to me when I heard The Cure,” he adds.
Manson, who is far morethoughtful and reflective than his public image would suggest, says he’s at a new stage in his personal life, having survived three long-term relationships.
“I finally have the ability to live alone for the first time,” he says. “I just have my cat, Lillywhite, and I’m somehow better able to make decisions in a better way. I’ve found thatone of my most endearing qualities is confidence, like when you look at a peacock. Often we make decisions based not on the best reasons, and I had begun to question who I had grown into.”
Though Manson and Zombie are co-billed, Manson goes on stage first, he says, explaining there’s method to his madness.
“That leaves him more time to live up to it, and leaves me more time to hunt down the girls before he can.”
The two artists have different approaches, Manson notes, explaining that Zombie attracts the fans of comic books and slasher imagery, while Manson prefers to deal with “political elements.”
Manson has a new CD to tout, also, his first in three years: Born Villain.
“The villain is the bad guy, certainly, but he’s also always more interesting than the hero,” Manson says. “He’s the catalyst for the action. I want people to remember that rock ’n’ roll is dangerous, that it comes down to what’s below the belt. Wehave a show that is elaborate, but very different. ... We live in a world where people don’t think something has happened unless they tape it on their phones. I’m reminded of that old Peggy Lee song, ‘Is That All There Is?’
“All art should be a question mark, not an answer.”
On Sept. 24, an announcement was released from the management of the originally scheduled opening act, JDevil, also known as Jonathan Davis of Korn: “Due to exhaustion from his recent eight-week overseas tour with Korn, Davis’ doctors have advised him to refrain from travel for the next few weeks while he recuperates.”
Three days later, a new opening act was announced DJ Starscream of Slipknotwill fill JDevil’s slot. DJ Starscream, the “turntablist,” has been DJ-ing since 1992. He also performs in the alterna-hop outfit AMPT, which also features members of Biohazard, plus DJ Rob Gee on vocals.
Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson
Opening act: DJ Starscream
5 p.m. Saturday (gates open
at 4 p.m.), Arkansas State
Fairgrounds, Roosevelt
Road and Howard Street,
Little Rock (show is out
doors, standing room only
and nothing but purses will
be allowed). Enter through
gates 11 and 12
Admission: $38; free for chil
dren ages 8 and younger
with a paid adult
(501) 372-8341, (800) 745-
3000
Weekend, Pages 34 on 10/04/2012