Dead to the World Tour

Dead to the World Tour
Tour by Marilyn Manson
Associated albumAntichrist Superstar
Start dateSeptember 5, 1996 (1996-09-05)
End dateSeptember 16, 1997 (1997-09-16)
Legs8
No. of shows175
Marilyn Manson concert chronology

The Dead to the World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the American rock band Marilyn Manson. Staged in support of their 1996 album Antichrist Superstar, the tour visited theaters, nightclubs, arenas and stadiums from 1996 to 1997. The Dead to the World Tour was the band's fifth tour, counting their early independent touring and their supporting roles for Nine Inch Nails' Self Destruct Tour and Danzig's Danzig 4p Tour. It is also their first tour to span over several legs, eight in total, that alternated between multiple venues both in North America and internationally.

The band was on the tour from September 5, 1996 until September 16, 1997, playing a total of 175 shows throughout Europe, Japan, Oceania, and North and South America.[1] The tour marked a period for the band wherein they reached new heights of attention and notoriety in news outlets for the unapologetic anti-Christianity of the band's outspoken frontman, Marilyn Manson, the proliferation of allegations and rumors of the band's purported stage antics, numerous bomb threats,[2][3] successful and failed attempts by concert venues to block their shows, resistance from local and state legislators, legal challenge, and protests from religious and civic groups such as the American Family Association and Oklahomans for Children and Families. Multiple school administrations across the country also threatened expulsion for any student attending one of the band's concerts or wearing apparel "inspired" by, or directly sold by, the band.[4]

Nearly every North American venue the band visited was picketed by religious organizations.[5] Opponents of the band based their protests on exaggerated, unfounded claims of onstage drug abuse, bestiality, and satanic rituals – namely animal and human sacrifice – and claims that the band frequently engaged in homosexual intercourse with one another, and that underage concert attendees were violently raped by other audience members.[5][6]

The tour was managed by major record label Interscope Records. Its name is derived from the song "Dried Up, Tied and Dead to the World". Select backstage and archival footage from the Dead to the World Tour was chronicled in the concert film: Dead to the World on VHS in 1997 and released in 1998. The tour was also chronicled by the band's frontman in his tour diary which he published in his autobiography The Long Hard Road Out of Hell.

  1. ^ Rieppi, Laurent (2016-10-20). "Antichrist Superstar de Manson: 20 ans déjà" [20 Years of Manson's Antichrist Superstar]. RTBF (in French). Archived from the original on 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  2. ^ Thompson, Barry (2015-01-20). "Marilyn Manson on 'Inventing' Grunge, Sons of Anarchy, and Why He's a Furby". Esquire. Archived from the original on 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  3. ^ Cherry, Robert (2003-03-21). "Homegrown Heroes: Marilyn Manson Timeline". The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on 2003-03-21. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  4. ^ Strauss, Neil (1997-05-17). "A Bogey Band to Scare Parents With". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-07-22. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  5. ^ a b Mirapaul, Matthew (1997-04-24). "The Traveling Controversy That Is Marilyn Manson". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  6. ^ Hedegaard, Erik (2015-01-06). "Marilyn Manson: The Vampire of the Hollywood Hills". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2015-01-24.