Beautiful Monsters Tour
North American tour by Hole and Marilyn Manson | |||||||||||||
Location | United States and Canada | ||||||||||||
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Associated album | Celebrity Skin and Mechanical Animals | ||||||||||||
Start date | February 28, 1999 | ||||||||||||
End date | March 14, 1999 | ||||||||||||
Legs | 1 | ||||||||||||
No. of shows |
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The Beautiful Monsters Tour was a North American concert tour co-headlined by American rock bands Hole and Marilyn Manson. Launched in support of each band's respective third full-length studio LPs, 1998's Celebrity Skin and Mechanical Animals,[N 1] the tour was planned to run from February 28, 1999, until April 27, with 37 shows confirmed. However, due to a highly publicized altercation between the bands' respective lead vocalists, the tour only visited arenas until March 14, for a total of 9 shows before Hole withdrew from the bill. The tour garnered a large amount of media attention and was billed by MTV as a "potentially volatile mix" due to the public feud between each band's outspoken vocalist.[1]
The co-headlining tour was conceived by Hole's management company, Q Prime. Hole singer Courtney Love teased the press that she aimed to launch a tour with Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette. However, Hole's management aggressively pursued Marilyn Manson's eponymous band, even amid a public feud stemming from Manson's depiction of Love in his autobiography The Long Hard Road Out of Hell. Nevertheless, the groups agreed to tour together provided that costs and revenue were split 50/50.
The tour was marred by on–and–off stage exchanges between Love and Manson, as well as private disputes over the tour's financial arrangements, which resulted in Hole unwittingly financing most of Manson's production costs which was disproportionately higher relative to their own. After Hole left, Marilyn Manson continued the tour under the name
Background and development
Plans for a joint tour were conceived by Hole's management company, Q Prime, during the band's stint at the 1999 Big Day Out music festival in Australia in order to support their third studio album Celebrity Skin.[2][3] Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson admitted that the band itself had "anxiously been awaiting" their first full-scale U.S. tour for some time, but their previous attempts "kept falling apart because we couldn't find someone to tour with". Erlandson said he was "just psyched to hit the road with anybody".[1] Hole frontwoman Courtney Love toyed with the idea of touring with Canadian pop rock singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette in the press. During an interview on Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM, Love claimed her opinions on Morissette had changed. She had previously maligned Morissette's pop work as being "too commercial [for Morissette] to ever be considered a genuine feminist symbol".[2] Nevertheless, Love, who was one of the most prominent and prolific figures of feminist music in the 1990s, began to see Morissette as a positive influence on female empowerment.[2]
I'm not mad that he said he'd kick my ass, I just don't want to be used in the same sentence with Courtney Love.
—Excerpt of an insult Marilyn Manson gave at the expense of Love during an interview before the tour. The quote was in response to the closing lyrics of the New Radicals song "You Get What You Give", wherein both singers were pilloried.[4]
In 1998 and 1999, Love and rock singer Marilyn Manson were engaged in a highly publicized feud and regularly traded insults with each other in the press. Love took offense to Manson's depiction of her in his autobiography The Long Hard Road Out of Hell.[5][N 2] In spite of their disagreement, Hole's management aggressively pursued a joint tour with Manson's eponymous rock band.[1][2] Manson was initially reluctant to accept the offer. He had reservations about Love, whom he pejoratively described in an interview with NME as "an opportunist" who he felt tried to exploit his band's new-found fame to bolster hers. He noted that Love never attempted to befriend him until he had sold a million records.[N 3] Love also voiced her concerns about touring with Manson, whose explicit stage shows, she felt, were potentially deleterious to her young daughter, Frances Bean.[2][5] Despite their mutual hostility, Manson accepted the offer to support his band's own third studio album.[2] He joked that he agreed to the tour because he realized "what better role models to lead the youth of America into the new millennium than us two? So it had to be done".[9]
During their negotiations, both sides agreed that the opening act from the inaugural show until their scheduled performance on April 4 in Philadelphia would be Manson's option, stoner rock band Monster Magnet. A dispute arose on who would take over. According to Erlandson and Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur, the two groups had a two-hour meeting to arrive at a resolution. Manson and his band voted for early 1980s Britpop groups like Fun Boy Three and Fine Young Cannibals, while members of Hole wanted "more modern" bands. Auf der Maur noted that "we want romance and they want theater. We want love and they want shtick. We had to explain to them that those kinds of bands make them look good, but us look silly".[1] Eventually, Manson's band ceded the selection of the subsequent opening act to Love, who chose Imperial Teen.[10] During their negotiations, both bands agreed to split the production cost and revenue earned at each show 50/50.[5][11]
Promotion and naming
Love officially announced Manson's attachment to the tour on January 6, 1999, by phoning in to the MTV show Total Request Live. She told host Carson Daly, "Yeah, Brian [real name of frontman Marilyn Manson] wants it", claiming that the two had reconciled and had mutual admiration. She also confirmed the lineup for each respective date on the tour.[12] The tour was scheduled to begin on February 28, 1999, with 37 dates confirmed, spanning a total of 8 weeks. Tickets retailed for $30 and the concerts were to be hosted at 10,000-20,000 capacity venues.[9]
The name "Beautiful Monsters" was fashioned by Auf der Maur as an acknowledgement of both band's roots in dark, angry and abrasive
The tour was covered extensively by MTV who anticipated it being a "potentially volatile mix". They noted the "strange juxtaposing" of two bands whose extremely outspoken lead vocalists were engaged in a public row.[1][3]
Tour
I asked myself what is the last band in the world I would ever, ever want to tour with, and it was Hole, beyond a doubt. But then I thought, I love a challenge, I like to surround myself with aggravation, it helps me perform better. And I thought, well, here's a chance to show Courtney the difference between being a celebrity and being a real rock star. We're just going to blow her off the stage. My show will be the biggest and greatest rock show of the '90s.
—Marilyn Manson on why he joined the tour[5]
The feud between Love and Manson carried over into their shows immediately after the tour began. They traded nightly exchanges of thinly-veiled insults during their respective sets.
The tour commenced, as scheduled, on February 28, 1999, at the
Two incidents occurred at the tour's second stop at the
The
"Grunge is dead. Grunge is over, okay everyone? I'm here, and we're here to soothe [things] and to help everyone move through this. And it was like the grunge receptacle."[16]
Press speculation on Hole's departure from the tour began on March 11, 1999, the day after the tour's sixth show at the
During the concert, Love polled the audience as to whether or not they wanted her band to continue performing. After the audience responded encouragingly, she derided both Manson's use of pyrotechnics and the audience's expectations of a decadent spectacle, then justified Hole's performance approach as musically focused.[N 6] Manson initially resisted responding to Love's criticism during his band's turn on stage. However, after the band performed their single "The Dope Show", Manson retorted by holding his own poll, asking how much of the audience were there to watch his band. After the majority of concertgoers erupted in a loud cheer he taunted, "I show pity for the older people on this tour ... the graying mothers" in reference to Love.[8]
The next day, Manson issued a statement on his website that apologized for his band's inability to attend the post-show
Less than a day after Love announced the probability of her band leaving the tour, DJ Bill Abbate of
Hole's departure
On March 14, 1999, Hole officially announced their withdrawal from the tour as they took the stage at The Forum arena. Love cited public ridicule as well as the inability of the two groups to resolve the financial issues related to Manson's expensive production among their reasons. Due to their 50/50 arrangement, Hole inadvertently subsidized a huge portion of the large cost of mounting Manson's shows which depleted their revenue.[5][11] At their final performance, Love told the audience, "We're history after this. You'll get to see the crack of someone's ass (a reference to Manson's habit of dropping his pants onstage). It will be fun."[17] During their performance later in the evening, Manson suffered a hairline fracture on one of his ankles while jumping between on-stage platforms.[18] His injury caused the tour to be temporarily suspended.[5]
Aftermath
Following their departure, Hole had a series of shows in North America and the United Kingdom. They joined the British
Imperial Teen's billing was withdrawn in favor of
Marilyn Manson released a live video album on November 2, 1999, titled
Reconciliation
More than 15 years after the tour ended, Love and Manson settled their differences and reconciled. In December 2014, Love posted a picture on the social networking service Instagram of her, Manson and their mutual friend Billy Corgan[N 7] sitting together with a caption that read "all hatchets buried".[24][25] In an interview with Esquire magazine on January 20, 2015, Manson elaborated on their reconciliation[N 8] which prompted a sarcastic response from Love on the social networking service Twitter.[N 9] In 2018, Love made a cameo appearance as a nurse in Manson's video for "Tattooed in Reverse".[28]
Lineup
Hole
- Vocals, guitar: Courtney Love
- Guitar: Eric Erlandson
- Bass, backing vocals: Melissa Auf der Maur
- Drums, percussions: Samantha Maloney
Marilyn Manson
- Vocals, guitar: Marilyn Manson
- Guitars: John 5
- Bass: Twiggy Ramirez
- Keyboards, percussions, programming: Madonna Wayne Gacy
- Drums: Ginger Fish
Tour dates
Date | City | Country | Venue | Opening Act(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
28 February 1999 | Spokane | United States | Spokane Arena | Monster Magnet |
2 March 1999 | Vancouver | Canada | PNE Coliseum
| |
3 March 1999 | Seattle | United States | KeyArena
| |
6 March 1999 | Portland | Rose Garden Arena
| ||
7 March 1999 | Nampa | Idaho Center
| ||
10 March 1999 | Daly City | Cow Palace | ||
11 March 1999 | Sacramento | ARCO Arena | ||
13 March 1999 | Anaheim | The Pond
| ||
14 March 1999 | Inglewood | The Forum
|
Date | City | Country | Venue | Opening act |
---|---|---|---|---|
16 March 1999 | San Diego | United States | The Sports Arena
|
Monster Magnet |
17 March 1999 | Las Vegas | Thomas & Mack Center | ||
18 March 1999 | Phoenix | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | ||
21 March 1999 | Houston | The Summit
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22 March 1999 | San Antonio | Alamodome | ||
23 March 1999 | Dallas | Reunion Arena | ||
25 March 1999 | New Orleans | UNO Arena
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27 March 1999 | Tampa | Ice Palace
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29 March 1999 | Orlando | Orlando Arena
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30 March 1999 | Sunrise | National Car Rental Center Arena
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2 April 1999 | Winston-Salem | Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum
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3 April 1999 | Fairfax | Patriot Center
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4 April 1999 | Philadelphia | First Union Spectrum
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6 April 1999 | East Rutherford | Meadowlands Sports Complex | Imperial Teen | |
7 April 1999 | Uniondale | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
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9 April 1999 | Worcester | The Centrum
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10 April 1999 | New Haven | New Haven Coliseum | ||
11 April 1999 | Buffalo | Marine Midland Arena
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13 April 1999 | Cleveland | CSU Arena
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15 April 1999 | Auburn Hills | The Palace of Auburn Hills | ||
16 April 1999 | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh Arena | ||
17 April 1999 | Fort Wayne | Fort Wayne Coliseum
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20 April 1999 | Rosemont | Rosemont Horizon
| ||
21 April 1999 | Grand Rapids | Van Andel Arena | ||
22 April 1999 | Indianapolis | Market Square Arena | ||
24 April 1999 | Madison | Dane County Coliseum
| ||
25 April 1999 | Milwaukee | Bradley Center | ||
27 April 1999 | Minneapolis | Target Center |
References
Notes
- ^ Both albums also shared the same record producer, Michael Beinhorn.
- ^ In the book, Manson alleged that Love "manipulatively" began a sexual relationship with Twiggy Ramirez as a means of "keeping tabs" on her former boyfriend, Trent Reznor.[6][7]
- ^ Complete statement: "Courtney never bothered to say hi to me until I sold a million records. She's an opportunist and I wouldn't consider her a friend ... the way she's behaved towards me in the media has seemed very exploitative. I'm not interested in being anything to her".[8]
- ^ Some examples of Marilyn Manson's complex stage props: 1.) During performances of "The Reflecting God" from their 1996 album Antichrist Superstar, Manson would appear onstage affixed to a large crucifix made of television sets that rose out of the ground. He would climb out and begin performing. Near the end of the song the TV crucifix was regularly set ablaze. 2.) During performances of "I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)" from Mechanical Animals, the band performed while a large Hollywood-style sign flashed the word 'DRUGS' behind them.[8][14]
- ^ The encore consisted of "Coma White" and their rendition of Patti Smith's song "Rock N Roll Nigger"[15]
- ^ Courtney Love: "I guess you're sort of waiting for the pyrotechnics show. We don't know how to do fire and stuff. We're just a rock 'n' roll band, you little shits ... We're sort of all about the music."[8]
- ^ Lead singer of American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Corgan contributed largely to the songwriting process on Celebrity Skin and acted as a musical consultant on Mechanical Animals.
- ^ Extract from Marilyn Manson's Esquire magazine interview titled, Marilyn Manson on 'Inventing' Grunge, Sons of Anarchy, and Why He's a Furby: "We never really had a falling out. We've always been weird with each other, because she's slept with pretty much every one of my friends, supposedly. Not me, though. She, one time, told me she was mad at me because I didn't want to fuck her and I was smarter than her. I said, "Well, you kind of proved your own point right there on that one." But it was cool. We didn't work any scenes together (on American television series Sons of Anarchy), but I saw her on the red carpet. Her dress broke, and I said, "You okay? Your pussy didn't show, did it?" and she said, "No", and I went, "Thank God! That would've been horrible!" That was the only time I fucked with her. Other than that, I'm cool with Courtney."[26]
- ^ Love's Twitter response to Manson's Esquire interview: "Omg @marilynmanson all this time thought u're gay. Of course I'll fuck u. Im free Fri from 1:15 to 1:18 gives us plenty time 4 a smoke too x"[27]
Footnotes
- ^ Viacom Media Networks. Archivedfrom the original on 2015-07-27. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
- ^ a b c d e f "Courtney Love Considers Manson, Morissette Tours As Hole Gets Six CMA Nods". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 1998-12-02. Archived from the original on 2015-07-26. Retrieved 2015-07-05.
- ^ a b c d e f g Kaufman, Gil (1998-03-12). "Best Of '99: Boston Promoter Says Hole Dropping Off Manson Tour". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. Archived from the original on 2016-03-17. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
- ^ "New Radicals Discuss Slighting Marilyn Manson And Courtney Love, Manson Responds". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 1998-12-02. Archived from the original on 2015-07-31. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
- ^ a b c d e f "Hole Walks Out On Tour, Manson Injury Postpones Several Dates". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 1999-03-15. Archived from the original on 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2015-07-05.
- ^ Manson & Strauss 1998, pp. 255.
- ^ "Manson Book Tells Tales Of Navarro, Love, Reznor". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. January 21, 1998. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Kaufman, Gil (1999-03-11). "Hole Threaten To Drop Off Marilyn Manson Joint Tour". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. Archived from the original on 2015-07-28. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
- ^ a b c "Marilyn Manson, Hole Announce Two Months Worth Of Dates". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 1999-01-27. Archived from the original on 2015-07-26. Retrieved 2015-07-05.
- ^ a b c "Manson Resumes Tour Without Hole, Taps Nashville Pussy And Jack Off Jill For Upcoming Dates". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 1999-03-22. Archived from the original on 2016-05-15. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
- ^ a b "Marilyn Manson Says Hole's Departure From Tour "Not A Personal Thing"". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 1999-03-15. Archived from the original on 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
- ^ "Courtney Talks About Hole/Manson Tour". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 1999-01-07. Archived from the original on 2015-07-26. Retrieved 2015-07-05.
- ^ The Interview (CD). Hole. Geffen. 1998. PRO-CD-1232.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b "Manson, Hole Get Tour On The Road". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 1999-03-02. Archived from the original on 2015-07-26. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
- ^ a b "Marilyn Manson Falls For Vancouver". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 1999-03-04. Archived from the original on 2015-08-09. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
- ^ a b "Hole, Marilyn Manson Avoid Nostalgia As Tour Rolls Into Seattle". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 1999-03-05. Archived from the original on 2015-07-26. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
- ^ Moran, Caitlin (1999-09-01). "The Girl Who Wanted To Be God". Select. Ascential plc: 92.
- ISSN 0262-6624.
- ^ "All's Fair in Love". NME. 1999-04-18. Archived from the original on 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
- ^ "Hole To Play A Pair Of Lilith Dates". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 1999-05-28. Archived from the original on 2015-08-08. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
- ^ "Hole Playing Two Lilith Shows". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 1999-05-28. Archived from the original on 2015-08-08. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
- ^ "Marilyn Manson Talks Rock Survival As Tour With Hole Marches On". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 1999-03-10. Archived from the original on 2015-07-26. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
- ^ "Manson: Love Hate Hate Love". NME. 1999-05-28. Archived from the original on 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (2014-12-06). "Courtney Love, Billy Corgan and Marilyn Manson Mend Longstanding Rift". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2016-05-07. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
- ^ Carley, Brennan (2015-01-21). "Marilyn Manson Claims Courtney Love Got Mad That He Wouldn't Sleep With Her". Spin. Archived from the original on 2015-08-02. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
- ^ Thompson, Barry (2015-01-20). "Marilyn Manson on 'Inventing' Grunge, Sons of Anarchy, and Why He's a Furby". Esquire. Archived from the original on 2016-06-20. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
- ^ Mcrady, Rachel (2015-01-21). "Marilyn Manson: Courtney Love Slept With My Friends, Billy Corgan Warned Me Rose McGowan Would Ruin My Life". Us Weekly. Archived from the original on 2015-07-16. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
- ^ Jones, Abby (2018-03-23). "Marilyn Manson Drops Bone-Chilling 'Tattooed In Reverse' Video With Courtney Love: Watch". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-06-098746-6– via Internet Archive.
- Schippers, Mimi A. (2002). Rockin' out of the Box: Gender Maneuvering in Alternative Hard Rock. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-8135-3075-8.