655 – the cousin of the beast?

it’s amazing the stats i keep track of…

…lately it’s odd concert shit.

on friday the ufc and i caught the last of our “summer show series” that started with depeche mode down in san antonio on memorial day weekend and closed out just before labor day weekend with rob zombie and marilyn manson.

6:

this was the sixth time i’ve seen rob zombie, who i feel has held his own musically over the years, but when it comes to live shows the son of a bitch just keeps getting better and better:

i’ve seen him twice every decade for the last three – first at the austin city coliseum (rip), then freeman coliseum (surprisingly still standing) back in the 90’s. the 2000’s i caught him at bronco bowl in ft worth (rip) and verizon wireless amphitheater in san antonio (rip), and then both times in the 2010’s at the austin 360.

5:

this was the fifth time i’ve caught manson (after some of the 90’s crap it seemed like it just would never happen), with two of them being before i met the ufc (bronco bowl and verizon wireless amphitheater), and three with her (once at freeman coliseum and now twice at austin 360).

he didn’t look like he was dealing with the texas heat well, and the next night proved it. he made it through his whole set in austin, but did the bulk of it seated even though he kept throwing on leather and feathers and other blackened layers of costuming and made funny faces for the camera as you would to indicate, “FUCK ME, it’s hot – but i got this!”

odd stat – all five place i’ve seen manson are also places i saw zombie, but this is the only venue where i’ve seen them both twice.

5:

the final five is that this is the fifth time i’ve been to austin 360 and i love the venue, but do yourself a favor and upgrade your parking. it’s only twenty five bucks and totally worth it. the first time we went was for nine inch nails and soundgarden and we parked in the main lot (free) and took a shuttle (also free) with almost no wait and got dropped at the gate. that was nice. AFTER the show, though, there was a line from hell for the shuttles so we decided to just walk it, which took a solid twenty-five minutes (with no stops along the way) and trashed the ufc’s knees. for our next two shows (koRn/rob zombie & manson/slipknot) we upgraded, as i did when i went solo for depeche mode last year. TOTALLY fucking worth it, so we did it for zombie/manson, too.

(they cover the beatle’s “helter skelter” together at the end, which reminded me of watching david bowie and trent reznor duet between their sets at southpark meadows)