Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie brought their co-headlining Freaks on Parade 2026 Tour to Blossom Music Center. The night was humid and hot as hell. Seemed fitting, as that’s where all of us at Blossom felt like we were going to end up when the night was over.
Jokes aside, there is no stereotypical audience for a concert for these two acts.. No one should really judge a person for what their musical tastes. Sure, you had your traditional over-the-top, covered-in-black concertgoers complimented by matching makeup, but the varieties of appearances ran the board.. Both Manson and Zombie have been putting out music since the ’90s. Their lifelong fans are at least in their 40s, with their children making up about one third of the audience. Seeing parents bring their kids to shows and enjoying the same music is something to marvel at.
Support for the night came from Orgy and The Hu. I caught only the second half of The Hu’s set, but they seemed to put on one hell of a show! Anyone unfamiliar with them, like me, might describe them as metal Viking monks. With a complete trio of throat singers, their sound is 100% original.
The beauty of a co-headlining concert is that neither top-billed act has to hold the weight of the whole show. That also means shorter sets; all meat & potatoes. Remember back when I said we were all in our 40s? We’re old. Our desire for a longer show is outweighed by our desire to go to bed.
Marilyn Manson took the stage donned in black leather, white face, and red lips. Manson’s stage appearance and persona have not faltered throughout his career. Kicking off his set with “Exit Wound,” he grabbed the audience by the palm of his hand and didn’t leg go until yielding to Rob Zombie. Referring to tonight as a “hometown show” added to the excitement. Born Brian Warner, the pride and joy (or massive embarrassment?) of GlenOak High School, nestled a short drive from Blossom in Canton seemed to have an extra pep in his step with his return to Northeast Ohio.
Teenage me was having a great time! I couldn’t believe how many songs resonated with my younger self. While performing a personal favorite of mine, “Tourniquet,” Manson was slowly elevated into the air while wearing what just might be in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest skirt in history. The more he elevated; the higher the skirt. It was completely original, completely unnecessary, and exactly what we all needed it to be.
Manson performed songs like “The Dope Show” and everyone’s favorite Eurythmics cover, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” During “Sweet Dreams,” I had to Google, “What does Annie Lennox think of Marilyn Manson’s cover of her song?” For those who are now also wondering, Well, she loves it! Thought it was such an original take on her song and loved that it received exposure from a new audience.
Closing his 12-song set was “The Beautiful People.” “Play the hits and go!” Can we, the concert fans, normalize this formula? All in favor? Motion carried!
Words almost fail me to describe Rob Zombie’s set. It’s like being transported inside a child’s worst nightmare, but a fun-filled haunted house for those past the age of 12. The stage was wildly elaborate. Screens covered the stage. A giant “ZOMBIE” platform dominated the front. Drum risers stood at least 20 feet in the air and, of course, there was fire. (Lest we forget the two giant inflatable demon gargoyles that flanked the stage.)
The band members all looked like they had freshly escaped from something horrifying, with 61-year-old Rob Zombie right in the center of it all.
His show is straight theatrics. It’s over the top. It’s awestricken. It’s straight up amazing! During the song—and I can’t believe I’m typing this—“Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.” a larger-than-life half-gorilla with an alien TV helmet for a head joined the band onstage. And it danced.
The band was tight the whole night. One of the nice things about being this far into your career is that you can hire the best of the best to be your band. White Zombie fans were happy to hear two songs from Rob Zombie’s former group:“More Human Than Human” and “Thunder Kiss ’65.” However, songs like “Living Dead Girl” and “Feel So Numb” had the very sweaty audience on their feet almost the whole night.
Capping off the night, complete with explosive confetti and Zombie standing on a platform that resembled the skeleton of a demon dinosaur, was “Dragula.”
I fail to put into words the totality of the showmanship that Rob Zombie put on throughout the entire set. The man is nonstop. From the classic visuals filling the screens to the larger-than-life puppet creatures that not even Jim Henson could imagine, there were no shortage of stimuli.
Rob Zombie braved heat and fans alike braved the September heat. (Or, maybe it was the fires of hell creeping through the Blossom gates?)
While perhaps a concert like this isn’t for everyone, this near-sold-out crowd proved it’s well over 15,000 Northeast Ohioans poison.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I must go to church.
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