Through the years, its image and music have become more refined, and so have its live performances. For a band built on wildly unpredictable stage antics, that's not necessarily a positive development. The problem isn't that Marilyn Manson's concert was good. It's that it was too good. It lacked the rough, spontaneous dynamic of danger and chaos that used to make the band's shows so fascinating.
People go to rock shows for a heightened sensory experience.
Fans want to be transported to a place they can't reach by recorded music alone. A canned show doesn't live up to those high expectations, and the clever tricks and trappings can't fill the void. Marilyn Manson has always been a theatrical, visually stimulating band. During its formative years in Florida, it was notorious for throwing bloody chicken entrails into the crowd. Manson himself was prone to cutting himself with broken glass, the proof of those self-mutilating acts permanently scarred across his chest.