How did we

know that the Marilyn Manson show on Halloween was going to be rife with

drama? First, borrowing from Milwaukee Madman G.G. Allin's book of

tricks (if you remember, the feces-eating punker had promised for years

to commit suicide on stage, only to die naked in a tub with a needle in

his arm), a rumor circulated on the day of the show that Manson planned

to commit suicide on stage at the N.J. Convention Center in Asbury Park,

N.J. (which took place last Thurs., Oct. 31).

Needless to say, that didn't happen, but what did happen was some joker

calling in a bomb scare to the venue, which necessitated the cops

sweeping the premises with bomb-sniffing dogs before any of the

sold-out, costumed hordes could be let in. A spokesperson at Interscope,

the band's label, says they have no idea how the suicide story got

started (although they wouldn't flatly deny that Manson himself was the

source) and also wouldn't comment on speculation that the bomb scare was

in response to the suicide rumors...

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The show, which also featured Helmet and NY

Loose, was held up an hour

or so by the drama, but, in the end, all three bands played and the only

psychic damage done was probably incurred in the parking lot where folks

picking up their underage kids were undoubtedly shocked to see that the

heavily-costumed crowd didn't differ that much from the band, who

allegedly didn't dress up for the event.

Not to say that there weren't any Halloween-like repercussions. On

Saturday, (Nov. 2) while NY Loose bassist Danny Nordahl was crashing in

the band's tour bus outside their hotel, one of the crew members got up

because he smelled something and when he went to the front of the bus to

investigate, found it engulfed in flames. Unable to escape, Nordahl, who

a source at Hollywood Records described as "one of those really rail

thin kind of guys," had to slip out the back window of the bus and call

911. By the time he returned to the scene, the crew, who were not able

to slip through the cracks like Nordahl, had kicked out the back of the

bus and escaped the inferno, which totally destroyed the vehicle and all

the band's gear. Ever the troopers, the boys went out and bought new

gear and still managed to play their show that night in Rochester, New

York. The only thing they didn't replace was the electric heater that is s

believed to be the cause of the fire.