Marilyn Manson – The Armory – Minneapolis MN – May 8th 2026

Live Nation and The Armory present Marilyn Manson with special guests The Vowws

Review by Tracy Hansen photos by Kyle Hansen

Marilyn Manson brought his One Assassination Under God tour to Minneapolis, Minnesota this May.  This tour has been ongoing since August 2024 and we have seen him three times on it since it started.  Once in Madison, once in Kansas City and now finally back in Minneapolis.  He was last in Minnesota in 2018, so this was very exciting.

I have only been to The Armory once and it was years ago for Katy Perry.  So I was excited to go back to this venue.  It’s a pretty cool place.  One thing I really loved about this place was how well air conditioned they kept it.  That may sound ridiculous, but anyone who has been to a concert knows how hot it can get once you get all the people in the building.  They have pretty good food too.

The show opened with the death pop band Vowws.  They have this dark new wave sound to them that I personally really enjoyed.  Amongst the crowd, I heard mixed reviews.  That is understandable considering they sound so different from Manson.  Also, so many of us were so impatient for Manson to take the stage.  It was unreal.  I’m normally a rather patient person but I was constantly like, how many songs are left?  However, I would listen to Vowws again.  I enjoyed their sound.

For some context, I’ve been a fan of Manson since “Mechanical Animals” was released.  So, 1998.  I have seen him at least twenty times over the years.  However, I stopped seeing him live years ago when it was clear that his addictions were getting the better of him and ruining his shows.  That is what is so amazing about this tour.  It’s the best kind of comeback.  He is sober, in great shape, and clearly much happier.  It’s so nice to see someone come back from something like that.  Watching him now is like watching him back in the late ’90s and early 2000’s.

The setlist was a mix of songs from various albums.  He could have made this set another hour long with all the songs in his catalog.  He’s been playing a lot of songs on this tour that he hasn’t played in years.  One example was when he played “Mechanical Animals” in Kansas City.  The standouts for me at this show were “Long Hard Road Out of Hell” and “(s)Aint”.  I had never heard those live before and just love them both so much.  I’ll say that if there was ever a song that I could hear live over any other, it’s “Apple of Sodom”.  And I’m certainly not alone in that.

Speaking of things we haven’t seen in years, Manson got on the stilts for “Tourniquet” again.  I remember when I was younger and first saw that, I thought it was so scary.  “Tourniquet” has a scary vibe to it anyway.  Now it’s just cool and exciting to see him do it again.

I’m loving this tour, but now I’m getting greedy and wanting to hear more stuff from the “Portrait of an American Family” album again.  He used to do songs from that album all the time and they are really great live.  Specifically “Get Your Gunn” and “Cake and Sodomy”.

I would literally go see him again tonight if he was close by.  That’s how good these shows are now.  On this tour, I have driven from Minneapolis to Madison and Kansas City to see him.  Years ago, I figured I would never see him again because addiction had destroyed what was once so good.  I would say for anyone that wanted to see Marilyn Manson back during the “Antichrist Superstar” era and those awesome days, see him now.  He’s got it all together now and it shows.