On August 3, 2017, the main figure in relations between Russia and Ukraine became Marilyn Manson.
48-year-old Brian Hugh Warner (the musician's real name) has been instilling fear and delight among fans for many years with his creepy appearance, as well as shocking antics on stage, compared to which Ozzy Osbourne biting off the head of a bat is petty hooliganism in the sandbox.
The master of shock can be pleased: with literally one phrase at a concert in Kyiv, he made Ukrainians fall in love with him, while at the same time earning the antipathy of Russians.
On the evening of August 2, 2017, during a concert at the Sports Palace in Kyiv, Marilyn Manson threw a phrase into the audience. According to the Vesti Ukraine portal, it sounded like: “I don’t want to be politicized, but you made Moscow scream like your bitch.”
According to Ukrainian media, the audience accepted this remark with delight.
Loza and Prigozhin stood up
The media of the two countries latched on to the news, and soon the news feed was full of headlines: “Marilyn Manson insulted Moscow at a concert in Kyiv,” “To please the audience from the stage in Kyiv, Marilyn Manson insulted Moscow,” “Marilyn Manson insulted Russia and Putin during a concert in Kyiv."
He stood up for Russia and Moscow Yuri Loza. In an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, he said: “It’s a pity that he spoke here first and then there: it would have been better the other way around. He managed to withdraw money here, and then from there he quacks to Russia. He probably thinks he won't come here again. I can’t understand the Russian organizers. You need to look at the artist you invite... You need to check everyone. Why drag scoundrels and all sorts of scum here? There are tons of our own artists, and we bring all sorts of shit.. but. Russophobes should not be allowed in. Why are we sure that our viewers will always be tolerant? Now, if an artist insults them, they can punch them in the face. So I came to the concert, and he thinks I’m a bastard. You can punch me in the face!”
Producer Iosif Prigozhin in an interview with the radio station “Moscow Speaks”, he also did not restrain himself: “Moscow is Russia, it is a huge great power that has great writers, musicians, actors, directors. When speaking in general about Moscow and Russia, they are talking about all of us. What can I say? He's a schmuck, a painted monkey. Because of people like him, the profession of a musician is turning into a second ancient one, sad as it may be. If he really said that, then he’s just a bastard, a pure bitch, a decorated clown, and let him lick where he wants.”
In general, judging by the style of statements, Loza, Manson and Prigozhin, the three of them, could give a truly whirlwind concert.
How does this translate?
One could completely ignore Marilyn Manson's performance in Kyiv. After all, we are talking about an American who, during his speeches, repeatedly used the US national flag, so to speak, for hygienic purposes.
But it’s still strange: on July 31, Manson gave a concert in Moscow, in his speeches he repeats that he wants to stay away from politics, and suddenly he gets involved in this politics.
It is important to know that Manson pronounced the words that blew up the Internet not in Russian or Ukrainian, but in English.
Before performing the song with the self-explanatory title This is the New Shit, the musician shouted: “Kiev! Now I don’t want to be political, but you just made Moscow sound like your bitch.”
If you enter this phrase into an online translator, you really get: “Kyiv! Now I don’t want to be political, but you only Moscow sounds like your bitch.”
However, this is, to put it mildly, not a very correct translation of what was said. People who speak English at a higher level translate it, removing the rude words: “I don’t want to get into politics, but Moscow is just puppies compared to you.” It turns out that Manson was complimenting the activity of the Kyiv public and winding them up before the next composition.
Bonus for an aging Satanist
A common technique that is found in the luggage of any Russian performer touring the south of Russia. Something like: “Anapa is on fire! Guys, Gelendzhik is resting next to you!”
And those who attended the Kiev concert note that the former passion for Satanism, swearing and other things has become noticeably less for the artist, who is approaching his fiftieth birthday. The concert in Moscow on July 31 went completely unnoticed by the public, but just a few years ago Orthodox activists organized pickets, trying to disrupt Marilyn Manson’s show in the capital.
The scandal after the concert in Kyiv recalled the times of good old Manson. It’s reasonable to assume that Marilyn himself started all this fuss in order to prove to himself that he was still great.
“I don’t like political statements, but you made Moscow scream like a bitch,” Manson said from the stage. Published online video made during the performance.
It is known that the concert of the rock musician, during which the performer presented the music of the new album Heaven Upside Down, was the first for Ukraine in the last five years.
Music critic Sergei Sosedov noted that Manson’s words should not be taken seriously, since the musician’s persona is so irrelevant in our time that his words cannot offend anyone.
"It seems to me that no one will pay attention to this statement. His concert in Moscow went unnoticed; his time as an artist is long gone. This is his private opinion, it does not affect anything. He said and said, some kind of artist. It’s not clear why he did this... In general, we need to listen less to what artists say, no matter what. They are usually apolitical and do not understand anything about politics. These are people who live in their own world, very far from the real one. They live by their own rules and laws. And when they start saying something about politics, it always looks like baby talk, bullshit. And in general, who is Marilyn Manson to discuss what he said there?” the critic noted in a conversation with
and his groups in Kyiv. The event, where the artist presented his new album “Heaven Upside Down,” took place on the stage of the Sports Palace. After performing the opening composition, the musician shouted a welcoming “Kyiv!” The crowd responded with enthusiastic exclamations, after which Manson pronounced a verdict: “I don’t want to get involved in politics, but you just bent Moscow!”
In the original, his phrase sounded like this: “Kiev! Now I don’t want to be political, but you just made Moscow sound like your bitch.”
Obviously, with this phrase the performer compared the reaction of fans to his greeting in Moscow, where he performed on July 31, and in Kyiv. Apparently, the Ukrainian public made a greater impression on him.
However, many publications interpreted the musician’s words differently. Thus, some Ukrainian media translated his statement as follows: “I try to stay away from politics, but we are bitches! We came to you straight from Moscow!”
The music critic also saw Manson’s statement as an assessment of Russian-Ukrainian relations.
“It seems to me that no one will pay attention to this statement. His concert in Moscow went unnoticed; his time as an artist is long gone,” NSN quotes him as saying.
However, the press service of the Stadium club told Gazeta.Ru that all tickets for Manson’s concert in Moscow had been sold.
“This is his private opinion, it does not affect anything. He said and said, some kind of artist. It’s not clear why he did this... In general, we need to listen less to what artists say, no matter which ones. They are usually apolitical and do not understand anything about politics. These are people who live in their own world, very far from the real one. They live by their own rules and laws. And when they start saying something about politics, it always looks like baby talk, bullshit. And anyway, who is Marilyn Manson to discuss what he said?” - concluded the critic.
In the summer of 2014, two Manson concerts in Russia - in Moscow and Novosibirsk - were canceled for various reasons.
At the same time, his performance at the Park Live festival in Kyiv did not take place - the event was decided to be canceled due to the political situation in the country.
Local Orthodox activists spoke out against the musician’s concert in Novosibirsk. They stated that Manson’s work offends their religious feelings, and in his behavior they saw propaganda of homosexuality, which is prohibited in Russia at the legislative level. After some time, the mayor of Novosibirsk reported that during the inspection she had not found anything reprehensible in the musician’s work, but due to the fact that on City Day the load on city services and law enforcement agencies would be already high, the concert should have been postponed. The city authorities proposed scheduling the concert for another day, but the singer’s managers reported that he would not have the opportunity to perform in Novosibirsk on the proposed dates.
The artist's performance at the Park Live festival at VDNKh in Moscow was canceled less than an hour before the start due to a false bomb report.
“The police ordered the event to be stopped for a canine check after a bomb was reported. As a result, the district police chief decided to end the concert program. Despite all our persuasion and arguments, she responded with a categorical refusal. We did everything we could!” — the concert organizers said then.
Shortly before this, Orthodox activists threw rotten eggs at Manson's band members and sprinkled them with holy water as they returned to their hotel after a rehearsal.
The musician was deeply affected by these events. By the way, he even refused to be accompanied by security during his stay in Moscow in order to be closer to the fans. After the incident in the capital, Manson left Russia, and in parting he left a bewildered message on Twitter:
“Why do people who believe that music causes violence become the cause of such chaos?”
Outrageousness and politics
The singer rarely speaks about politics, but quite aptly. “I don’t like both candidates, so I won’t go to vote. I don't think this is a coward's position. As a voter, I just don’t want to be a part of this political process,” Manson said. True, in 2012, according to the musician, he did take part in the election process - he voted for Barack Obama out of a desire to be “part of history.” However, according to the artist, he did not live up to his hopes. “I was convinced that US politics is everything that happens not on stage, but behind the scenes,” the rock musician commented on his disappointment.
But he had many harsh statements. Several years ago, he made threats against journalists on his MySpace blog. The reason was an article by journalist Travis Keller in the LA Weekly newspaper, where the musician was presented as a “paranoid drug addict.” “I have no need to defend myself against absurd statements in the press,” Manson wrote. “If someone wants a nude photo of me, then media representatives... can easily fabricate everything.”
But if even one more “journalist” makes a disrespectful statement about me or my group, then I personally or together with my fans will come to his home and test his faith in freedom of speech.
In the meantime, I give everyone another opportunity to write what they cannot say to my face.”
Manson also had some simply hooligan antics: at one of the concerts, he turned his back to the audience and lowered his pants, and then set fire to a copy of the Bible and held it over his head until it was completely burned.
Sometimes he himself becomes a victim of his shock image and reputation. This was the case with the “rape” of singer Lana del Rey, in connection with which Manson had to explain himself. Film director Eli Roth, in the video for the song “No Reflection,” pasted in footage in which the singer—or an actress similar to her—falls onto the bed from a push from Roth, then resists, scratches, and then silently cries. As Manson himself said on the show, Roth pasted in this episode without his knowledge.
It is possible that in the case of the singer’s careless statement in Kyiv, he did not mean a political statement at all - it is quite possible that Manson simply wanted to compliment the Kyiv fans, who might seem to him more active and hotter than the Moscow ones.
Anastasia Kokoreva participated in the preparation of the material
