Marilyn and The Mayhem Festival

Well. It probably would have been easier to recover from festivals when I was in my 20's but I never went to them then. It's only now, when I am 50+ that I seem to have this yen to go see live bands. So go I did.

Indianapolis is about 300 miles from where I live. To make the commitment to drive that far it truly had to be a special show. Manson sure seemed to fit the bill.

I got to the hotel at about 2 pm (when the gates to Verizon opened), checked in, and decided to walk to the venue. I know, I know. It didn't look that far away. But I forgot I was in Indiana where if you try you can see all the way to the Rockies.

After hoofing it in the heat of the day I was at the back gate. Wrong one. Had to walk around front. Showed my ticket, got the pat down, and entered the hallowed hall.

My first stop was a water vendor ($6 a bottle. No, a cup. You can't have the bottle because you might throw it. Or even worse, refill it!) and a seat. I rested for a couple of minutes then went off in search of whichever band was playing in the field.

All That Remains was just finishing up on one stage and Job For Cowboy was tuning up on the other. I watched a bit of both then went in search of Event Gear (aka t-shirts). That little pit stop set my wallet on fire. I swear there was smoke coming from it!

Back for a quick peek at Trivium, then an $11 hot dog and fries. While waiting I asked this man if I could take his picture. He was the epitome of the crowd for me; tattooed, pierced, mohawk, friendly. Your average guy.


These guys sat across from me while I was eating. They had only met that day but they were sure having a good time hanging together.


At that point, I was sunburned and a bit tired so I decided to go find my seat. In the shade. The cool, wonderful shade.

It wasn't too long before Bullet For My Valentine began. I had been looking forward to seeing them since I really like their music. They didn't disappoint. They were followed by Kill Switch Engage (who knew Holy Diver could last that long?), then Slayer.

Slayer was so loud there was no definition. One long loud set of notes. And if I had to guess I would say they played at least 120 songs. So many I went back outside for a break.

Where these ladies were preparing their glow sticks for the big event. Marilyn Manson was due next.


Slayer finished (thank the heavens for little things!) so I wandered back to my seat. 15 minutes later, Manson's music began. The place roared. Two minutes into the song, the backdrop came down and there he was! YES!

It was so loud the hairs on my arm began vibrating. That's the sign of a great show.

Which it would have been if he had played more than 6 songs. Or done an encore. Apparently Verizon has to shut the music off at 11 pm. No exceptions. That was a huge disappointment.

On a positive side, my seat mates felt sorry for me and gave me a ride back to the hotel. Where I fell into bed and listened to the extremely loud white noise in my head.

I'm glad I went. I may have been the oldest one there but, as said in Mame, "Life is a banquet and there are poor sons of bitches starving to death." I want to partake as long as I can.