Review: Marilyn Manson and Jonathan Davis Perform at Express LIVE!

Fans from all over central Ohio gathered at Express LIVE! on Saturday, August 4 for the 2018 Blitz Great Summer Smokeout for the highly anticipated dual performances by Marilyn Manson and Jonathan Davis. Opening the evening was the sludge metal band, The Melvins, and Deadly Apples.

Korn frontman Jonathan Davis took the stage and instantly had the crowd moving with performances of songs off his debut solo album, Black Labyrinth. “What It Is,” “Basic Needs,” “Your God,” and an old favorite off the Queen of the Damned soundtrack, “Forsaken,” were among the favorites of his set. Fellow Korn member, Ray Luzier, joined Davis on stage packing in a powerful performance on the drums.

Soon after Davis wrapped up his set, fans were finally granted the long-awaited performance by the shock-rock icon, Marilyn Manson. Anticipation for the evening’s show had been building ever since an on-stage injury forced the cancellation of the October 8, 2017 concert in Columbus. But this show was well worth the wait. Fans crowd surfed and moshed to the growling sounds of “The Beautiful People,” “This Is the New Shit,” and “The Dope Show.” Manson’s charismatic stage presence was rounded out by multiple theatrical outfit changes, heavy use of the fog machines, and blood red stage lights accentuated by a near constant assault of pulsing strobes.

Columbus fans will undoubtedly eagerly await Marilyn Manson and Jonathan Davis’s next visits to Columbus. Whether or not they’ll come back together remains to be seen, but either way, together or separately, both artists will put on a killer show you won’t soon forget.

By: Kate Bryson

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