Revision as of 16:36, 3 July 2010

The band's first live performance, at Churchill's Hideaway in Fort Lauderdale. Left to right: Olivia Newton Bundy, Zsa Zsa Speck, Marilyn Manson and Daisy Berkowitz.

Prior to embarking on any official tour under the wing of a major label, Marilyn Manson spent several years touring independently at various locations in Florida such as Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Miami Beach, South Hallandale and Davie, among various other one-night venues. During this time, the band is known to have left Florida only three times to perform. Until August 1992, the band played these shows as Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids. The band played these independent shows from April 28, 1990 until June 4, 1994.

Lineup

• Vocals: Marilyn Manson
• Guitar: Daisy Berkowitz
• Bass: Olivia Newton Bundy (from April 28, 1990 until June 1, 1990), Gidget Gein (from June 14, 1990 until December 31, 1993), Twiggy Ramirez (from January 1, 1994 onward)
• Keyboards: Zsa Zsa Speck (from April 28, 1990 until June 1, 1990), Madonna Wayne Gacy (from July 27, 1990 onward)
• Drums: Yamaha RX-8 drum machine (from April 28, 1990 until August 5, 1991), Sara Lee Lucas (from August 11, 1991 onward)

Typical setlists

During the first two years of the band's existence, they had recorded a core set of songs that they would perform favorably, some that would never be performed again following the independent shows. The following list contains the most commonly played songs in the order they were most generally performed:

1. "Cake and Sodomy"
2. "Learning to Swim"
3. "White Knuckles"
4. "Suicide Snowman"
5. "Lunchbox"
6. "Dope Hat"
7. "My Monkey"
8. "Misery Machine"

Towards the end of the independent shows and the near completion of the band's debut album Portrait of an American Family, the live setlist resembled the following, occasionally with answering machine messages sampled as an intro and outro respectively:

1. "Get Your Gunn"
2. "Filth"
3. "Suicide Snowman"
4. "Dope Hat"
5. "White Knuckles"
6. "Sweet Tooth"
7. "Wrapped in Plastic"
8. "Lunchbox"
9. "Choklit Factory"
10. "Misery Machine"
11. "Thrift"
12. "Cake and Sodomy"
13. "Dune Buggy"

Stage antics

During the Spooky Kids Era, the concerts featured several antics among which were girls covered in blood and wearing animal masks. Manson describes in The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, how one night they had a woman iron a nazi flag onstage. There were also cages and the renowned Madonna Wayne Gacy keyboard paraphernalia, such as dismembered doll heads.

Tour dates

Trivia

• After the band's second show, which Manson has described as the band's "first real performance", Zsa Zsa Speck and Olivia Newton Bundy were 'kicked out' of the band. They were replaced by the next performance by Madonna Wayne Gacy who hadn't yet attained a keyboard so instead played with toy soldiers onstage in the meantime, and Gidget Gein, guitarist of local band Insanity Assassin, respectively.
• At the band's July 11, 1990 performance, the first 10 people to attend the show with an x across their forehead received a limited edition Marilyn Manson milk chocolate bar.
• Former bassist Gidget Gein explains in the unauthorized documentary Demystifying the Devil that when he joined the band, he was with them for a few weeks before their performance on July 4, 1990.^[1] Some sources state that Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids' first live performance was an unlisted date in 1989, and that their second show took place in November of the same year. These sources also include nine dates between their purported second show in 1989 and the July 4, 1990 show which Gein mentions was one of his first live shows with the band. As the band did not play shows without a bassist, these mysterious nine dates following bassist Olivia Newton Bundy's departure and the live induction of Gein cannot exist. Other sources state that Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids' first live performance was on April 28, 1990, which supports Gein's account, because the second show where Bundy and keyboardist Zsa Zsa Speck were fired from the band took place only weeks before the show on July 4, 1990.
• On July 31, 1992 in Davie, Florida, Marilyn Manson officially revealed the band's new name, as prior to this the band was known as Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids.
• The band was allegedly payed over $300 more than the normal rate for gigs, to perform at the Reunion Room. This was due to Manson's "lesson number one in music-industry manipulation: If you act like a rock star, you will be treated like one."
• The band's first performance, at Churchill's Hideway in Miami, is described in Manson's autobiography The Long Hard Road Out of Hell. The band opened up with what Manson described as his favorite poem, "The Telephone". 20 people attended the performance.
• The exact location of the band's July 4, 1990 performance is uncertain, although then-bassist Gidget Gein has mentioned that it took place at the back of a trailer in a local trailer park.^[1] Alternatively, former guitarist Scott Putesky, better known as Daisy Berkowitz, claims the performance took place at Club Nu in Miami Beach, Florida, and was the first for both Gein and Stephen Bier, best known as keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy,^[2] however neither of these bits are correct.
• Interpol's drummer, Sam Fogarino claims to have been a member in the audience for Manson's first ever show at Churchill's. He later commented that he wanted to join the band, however the reason why he never did is unknown. He also mentioned Manson is the most determined person he knows, and to date the two remain friends and have been photographed at Manson's art exhibits. Sam would later on do a remix of "If I Was Your Vampire".

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Demystifying the Devil. Ventura Distribution. Gidget Gein. October 17, 2000.
2. ↑ Lunch Boxes & Choklit Cows. Empire MusicWerks. Scott Putesky. April 20, 2004.