Talking Stick Amphitheater and the City of Phoenix was in for a night of great music! The nights line up was a great mesh of genres from Emo, to Deathcore to Industrial Gothic Rock/Metal and ending with a heavy metal band. All walks of people flocked to the amphitheater in droves. Everyone wanted to get to their seat and get the night rolling. Tonight was special for a couple different reasons, first, a lesser known band, The Funeral Portrait, that had been working their butts off landed on this huge amphitheater tour with some great bands. The second reason was that after five years of not touring, Manson has decided to hit the stage!
The minute it seemed like Manson was going to take the stage, fans left where they were at to run to their seats. No one wanted to miss this moment! A couple of his fans there were also dressed like risqué nuns; it was quite the scene to take in. The stage went black and all of a sudden some red lights came on and the band was on stage performing. The first song he performed was “We Know Where You Fucking Are”. The audience screamed as he began to sing.
Manson looked good; he looked like he had been hitting the gym. He came out in black knee length shorts that met the top of his leather knee high boots, a black vest and a long black leather coat. Halfway through his first song he took the leather jacket off, and who could blame him, it was close to 100 degrees out. The fourth song he played was “This Is the New Shit”. Before he began to sing he took to the microphone and said “Are you motherfuckers ready for the new Shit!?” while kicking the air. Manson never really left his spot on the stage. He staged dead center behind the platform.
Manson had incredible stage presence! He was constantly engaging with the audience through the night. He then introduced everyone to his band. He said ” Let me introduce you to my band this is Rheba Myers, Gil Sherone, Piggy D, Tyler “Fucking” Bates, I’m Marilyn Manson and I’m a drug addict!” They then went into their song “The Dope Show”! The audience went absolutely crazy, this was a well loved classic song! Manson and his band played other classics throughout the night such as “The Beautiful People”, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”, and “The Love Song”.
Overall Manson had a great set and it it felt like I finally got my moment to see his performance. I remember seeing him years ago at a festival but unfortunately the group I was with did not want to watch so i missed out and that night was my redemption moment.
Marilyn Manson
The second band of the night was Slaughter to Prevail, a deathcore band from Russia. The band formed in 2014 in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast but are currently based in Orlando, Florida. The bands current line up is formed by Aleksandr “Alex Terrible” Shikolai- lead vocals, Mikhail “Mike” Petrov- bass, Evgeny Novikov- drums, Jack Simmons- guitar and Dmitry “Dima” Mamedo- guitar.
Slaughter to Prevail is well know because of Alex the Terrible’s vocals and videos posted on social media. he has grown a cult following that love to watch what he is up to. He has also been associated with a few controversies over the year that the band has denied.
The band came out onto the stage shrouded darkness, ready to rock the world that night. All the members were wearing masks with the exception of Alex, who came out dawning a baseball cap and tank top. They opened their set with “Bonebreaker”. Fans loved the heavy hitting sounds and Alex did some hardcore dance moves in between lyrics. After the first song Alex addressed the audience. He told them to split and create a wall and a mosh pit. He encouraged everyone to participate that was on the general standing area. Everyone had a fun time and enjoyed the set.
Slaughter to Prevail
One of best acts of the night was The Funeral Portrait. This band hails from Atlanta, Georgia. The band is formed by Lee Jennings, Cody Weissinger, Caleb Freihaut, Robert Weston and Homer Umbanhower. This band is the emo dream that captured my heart. Thier music brought this nostalgia on; I felt like I was transported back to high school, listening to some of my favorite bands such as Avenged Seven Fold and Hawthorne Heights. This band truly knows how to blend their sound with messages that the high school me may have needed. Their dedication to their craft is easily seen and very respected. They love what they do and they do it for their fans.
A fan told me how much Jennings tries to connect with his fans at every show, to make sure they know they are seen and hear. If he cannot connect with them in person he connects with them through social media. Jennings was seen walking around and taking photos with fans after his set.
The Funeral Portrait has a new album that was released on September 13, 2024 called Greetings from Suffocate City. The band came onto the stage and Jennings immediately moved the riser that was smack bad in the center of the stage. This was from Slaughter to Prevails sound check. They had some bus issues and were running late so they had to sound check last.
The Funeral Portrait opened their set “Blood Mother”. Jennings brought all the sass and fun to the stage, moving around , talking to the audience and just giving the performance of a lifetime. While they performed you can see people who were not originally fans converting. They were loving the music the band played and their stage performance. You can see how much music meant to this band and how much they loved what they do. They also performed “Voodoo Doll”, “Holy water” and “Suffocate City”. I cannot wait to catch this band again in the future, hopefully for their own headlining tour. I hope they perform my favorite song of theirs, “Alien”.
The Funeral Portrait
