Freakers Ball

Marilyn Manson can't shock us anymore, but that doesn't mean we don't need him. With the music charts divided among trendy garage rock, predictable gangsta rap and insultingly banal pop, the world could use some good old-fashioned rock-star provocation. Obviously it worked for the folks behind MansonSucks.com, an entire Web portal devoted to bringing down the self-proclaimed God of Fuck. "His distaste for anything corporal in the world twists the minds of the weak into mindless zombies," the site's opening manifesto declares. Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Manson's latest tour marks the return of the blood-splattered cabaret that made his glory days so much fun, which surely has something to do with the glammed-out goth king's having been banned in various cities around the globe. But Manson always has a home at KC's Freakers Ball, which has become an annual rite of passage for the mechanical animal. Manson's numerous detractors wouldn't show up if you paid them, but those in search of high-concept entertainment on Halloween night need look no further.