I realised that we bash pretty well all of the bands we talk about. so here’s a concert story that we had a lot of fun livin out.
The year was 2000 ‘aut 7 and we were en route to buy last minute Slayer/Marilyn Manson tickets at the Molson Amphitheater. Kim and myself went out voluntarily at noon to pick up tickets for the group before the show sold out which afforded us the opportunity to walk around Ontario Place and ogle the odd group this concert seemed to pull in. luckily for the venue, they had anticipated this turn out and the night would eventually result in two of us being thrown out and one just sort of wandering out by choice.
We consisted of Kim, myself, my younger brother Mykel, his friend Josh, our three friends Rob, Ryan and Dan, and my mom (who happens to be the one who introduced me to Manson at an early age). Somewhere around grade four my parents had made it a habit to be “actively involved” in church and church activities, resulting in my dad’s protest about some of my musical tastes. When he heard that Manson had burned a bible after attempts to ban his performance in some god fearing town, that was enough to convince him that I was no longer allowed to support such a blasphimer. So my mom took it upon herself to bring me to Deja Vu Discs and pick up a copy of Mechanical Animals. Way to go mom.
Nine years and two hair cuts later we’re all gettin comfortable (some a little too comfortable) on the lawn seats at the Amphitheatre trying to wrap our heads around this cracked out german guy beside us, eating candy and doing some sort of tantric exercise. i think he called it dancing. he was something else for sure. this was all around the time that the City of Toronto thought it would be a great idea to waste some tax dollars by turning the CN Tower into a florescent lamp, and whenever we think back on this show the first thing that comes to mind is that wierdo saying “Look! The lights are shining just for Slayer!”. This is why I was surprised to have Kim ask me why I though it was a bad idea to take any candy this guy was trying to offer her.
Around the time that Slayer’s rodies were setting up the stage Rob and I had gottin into a conversation on how long he had been waitin to see them live, which for most people is just after they hear Raining Blood for the first time. The lights went down, the curtains opened and Kerry King was shreddin with all his might. Then the security guards tapped Rob on the shoulder. According to the venue’s regulations anyone caught smoking anywhere on the premises is to be immediatley, and without exception, removed from the grounds. Poor Rob, but he was soon accompanied by Ryan for the same reasons. We didnt see them again till we got on the train. Mainly becuase they hadnt noticed the extra ticket my mom had tried to slip them on their way out. We told ourselves not to worry about him cause it would have only made the rest of the night shitty. and since we were all pretty “comfortable” by this point, forgettin about him wasn’t hard to do.
the rest of the show went by pretty fast. there were mosh pits. stupid stupid mosh pits. I managed to get knocked out of my shoes (literally) twice, but Dan took the cake but having some Manson fan thrusted at him so hard that his make up made an imprint of his face on Dan’s shirt. This was the topic of conversation all the way home while some jackass was on the train decided it’d be a great idea to start a fight and smoke and get shut down by every girl he tried to pick up. But yeah, Slayer finished with Raining Blood and Angel of Death (as per usual) and Manson played everything you’d expect, along with a pretty high mix of his new songs…which all sound the same as the last. One of the songs had an incredible guitar solo though.We spent most of Manson’s set trying to keep our balance but in between each song I would always comment on how John5 was so much more talented than this new jackass. And then outta nowhere he just decided it was a good time to rip an 8 minute shred-fest. Yes, these word are all very stupid but it’s what i have to work with here.
This blog has been going on for far too long, so….we made it back to the train, ran into some more friends and because Kim had to pee REAL bad we had no other choice than to break into a locked bathroom just inside of The EX fair grounds. That was a lot of fun. i stayed by the door to make sure nothing happened and shortly there after asked Kim, “You don’t happen to hear that alarm as well do you?”. That’s when Vince, the very understanding security guard poked his head through the door. We explained what had happened and he seemed pretty cool with us breaking into the bathroom; probably because we told him the door was already opened and we just walked in.
We got home fine, which seemed to be quite an accomplishment by this point but to be honest I dont have any clear memories past laughing at Dan all the way home because of his make-up grafitti’d t-shirt.
June 9, 2008 at 12:58 am
yup, fucking red paint. washed out, though. After i left, (didn’t see manson. I ended up following someone and walked down the shoulder of the gardiner expressway, stoned and drunk. just mere feet from death. don’t follow people you don’t know. leeeson learned over here, man.) I made it to the train.
June 12, 2008 at 9:28 am
oh. dan.
p.s- peeing with a security guard and your boyfriend chatting about breaking and entering in the same room as you’re trying to do your business is SUCH a pee killer.