Volume #256: Rob Zombie & Marilyn Manson
Rustbelt Rock Review
By: Z.M. Delgado
Volume #256: Rob Zombie & Marilyn Manson
September 2, 2026
Blossom Music Center
Hello friend. Welcome back to the illustrious pages of the Rustbelt Rock Review. This week I have yet another tale to tell of Rock N’ Roll majesty. It is also the tale of a time misjudgment and of the price paid. As usual I have to avoid getting to far ahead of myself. As that legendary White Zombie album “Astrocreep 2000” told us… “perhaps you had better start at the beginning.”
For myself and my party, our evening began much too late. We failed to assemble until like 5 o’clock and left with little haste. We braved the long haul to Blossom, confident that our back way road would afford us a smooth and sly entrance to the premises. Boy, were we wrong. We got most of the way down the road leading into Blossom, when we hit the traffic. Dead locked traffic. That’s was it. We were stuck. It was about 6pm, and music started in a measly 30 minutes. If we’d have coasted right in, we would have made it, just barely in time. As things stood that didn’t appear to be happening. SO we waited, and waited and waited. The line moved in slow and seemingly random lurches. We watched the clock click by. In time we reached a lot, parked and hustled toward the gate. Here is where we hit our next hurdle. We were supposed to rendezvous with Jimmy “The Dook” Fedor my co host for Heavy on Cleveland. What made things worse was we had his ticket. Alas The Dook was even farther back in the traffic than we were, so he was still trapped in his car. We had a conundrum. By this point we had missed both Orgy and The Hu. Marilyn Manson was up next and the clock was ticking. Eventually we made the decision to send The Dook his ticket digitally and to head inside. (In the hours that followed, we were never able to meet up with The Dook, which made me sad.)
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Once inside we hurried onto the lawn and weaved our way through a sea of rented lawn chairs, until we found an acceptable spot. Then we waited again, but not very long. In the mean time we watched as a titanic towering cumulonimbus cloud build in the distance. It swelled and bulged, rippling with lightning. It was amazing. We we initially afraid that it would drift over us and get the concert shut down, but it stayed put. Soon enough the lights on the stage went dark and the show (for us, at least) finally began.
Marilyn Manson came out swinging. Opening with “Exit Wound” from his newest album he blasted off with full force. He then proceeded to run through a gauntlet of his greatest hits collection. Classic tracks came in plenitude, mostly taken from his three defining albums: “Antichrist Superstar,” “Mechanical Animals,” and “Holywood.” He did however dip deeper into his catalog and included “Front Toward Enemy,” “mOBSCENE,” and of course “Sweet Dreams.” He dropped into “Diary of a Dope Fiend” as a too short interlude, which was really cool while it lasted. He also performed “The Nobodies” which I consider to be a semi deep cut, though it is yet another nod to “Holywood. Manson’s performance was intense and tight. I have seenhim many times over the decades and have witnessed his ups and downs. Marilyn Manson, now sober and refocused, is performing at the top of his game. His delivery was impeccable. His voice was album perfect. The band did their job and Manson delivered. End of story. As always, the stage show was excellent, lots of flashing lights and inverted crosses… he was even hoisted high into the air for “Tourniquet.” All in all it was a classic Marilyn Manson show, of the highest quality. My one complaint is the song choices. I understand he has to play the hits, but it would be nice for the veteran fans, if he would mix it up just a little bit. He has so many excellent albums, I would love to hear him revisit. What he played he played very well, but I just wish I could hear something different. Give me a cut from “Eat Me, Drink Me” or “Heaven Upside Down,” as opposed to only getting the hits from the three core albums. But I digress…
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After Manson we hit the bathrooms, booze and merch lines. Then it was back down to the lawn to find an acceptable spot for Rob Zombie. Once we did we settled in and again we waited. Eventually Zombie kicked things of with an explosive opening, dropping “F.T.W. 84.” He then proceeded to produce an expansive array of cuts from his long and distinguished career. Dolling out hits from both his solo works as well as dusting off some old White Zombie tracks, Rob put forth quite a spectacle. He dropped “Superbeast,” “Living Dead Girl,” “Feel so Numb,” and “House of a Thousand Corpses” just to name a few. As well as the show stopping classics “More Human Than Human,” and “Thunderkiss ‘65.” The stage show was enormous and impressive. A mix of multiple screens combined with many onstage characters, brought the songs to life in a way that only Rob Zombie can. When you see Rob Zombie you are dealing with a seasoned film director and it come across clearly in his live show. For me it is a primarily visual experience however and I have always felt the music takes a back seat to the on stage theatrics. The band is tight, but Rob often seems… I dunno… out of breath. He performs like a demon; running wild on stage and headbanging wildly in his trademark bell bottoms. Again, visually this looks amazing, however if you’re coming up short on your Vocals, maybe you should tone down the movements and focus more on your lyrics. Just saying.
Once Zombie was through, we were off into the night. The march out of Blossom is always a nightmare, but in time we made it to the roads, the highways and eventually home and that, my friend is where we shall call this tale closed. The lesson off the story is this, if you are going to Blossom, leave a hell of a lot earlier that I did for this gig. If not you’ll end up stressed out, bummed out and missing half the bands. SO I suppose that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading, for Rocking and for supporting Heavy music!
Until next time, Rock on, Rustbelt,
-Z.M. Delgado
Rustbelt Rock Review
09/06/2026
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