ION INDIE MAGAZINE December 2015, Volume 19 | Page 12

Story and Photography by Timothy Schumann

I knew about this show back in mid-summer
through the promoter at the venue, but was sworn
to secrecy. The show would happen either
in August or October, so with that said, on October
28th, MARILYN MANSON with his "The Hell Not
Hallelujah Tour" waded into El Paso like MacArthur
did in the Philippines! TRICKY FALLS braced for
impact on this day, because this show had been
sold-out for months and the venue holds 1500 tops.
The first people arrived at 7am to secure a spot
at the front door so they could be the first in when
the doors opened at 7:00 p.m. Needless to say, with
Tricky being “General Admission”--there was a
mad dash to the barricade. Now, I had done a few
sell-out shows at Tricky, but this seemed just a little
over the top with the pushing and shoving to get
closer to the front. I just was happy not to be a part
of that madness being in the photo pit with
credentials.
Manson hit the stage with my personal favorite
song, "Deep Six"--and that's all it took to set this
audience afire. He followed with classics like "Sweet
Dreams", The Beautiful People" and of course, "The
Dope Show". As the show continued, the audience
got more and more insane and took to throwing bras
and panties at Manson…who gladly wore them on
his head. In his true “shock” style, he would also
proceed to cut his hand open with a broken Coors
beer bottle—and then lap up his own blood (not to
mention, setting the Bible on fire). This type
of performance had an effect on the crowd that the
word “insanity” doesn't even come close to
describing--it was sheer bedlam and madness…but
that is Marilyn Manson at his best!
In closing, Manson denies most media who seek to
obtain credentials to photograph him--so why of all
people of the working media in El Paso, I was chosen
and given a pass, is a mystery to me. I was denied my
prior request, but then to my personal surprise, I
was astounded to be approved at the door. I feel
very fortunate and blessed to have covered this epic
event. Truth be told, I'll never forget it.

WWW.MARILYNMANSON.COM