NEW YORK -- It's not every day that Marilyn Manson spits champagne at you.

But New Yorker Jeannette Ayban, 19, got an unexpected thrill when shock-rocker

Manson spewed a mouthful of bubbly into the crowd at the opening of the Virgin

Megastore in downtown New York City on Friday morning (Aug. 28).

The pale-faced Manson, who had just cut the red ribbon of the new store at Union

Square, was joining Virgin founder and chairman Richard Branson onstage in a swig of

champagne. When the controversial musician spit some of the sparkling wine toward the

gathered fans and customers, Ayban didn't move to avoid it.

Rather, she opened wide.

"I was psyched to get some in my mouth," said Ayban, a Manson fan. "Especially

because he didn't play or speak or anything -- at least I got some champagne."

The New York Police Department estimated that 1,000-plus people showed up for the

ceremony, featuring the odd pairing of the ghoulishly made-up musician and the

eccentric billionaire businessman. They gathered in front of the store or stood behind

blue police barricades placed on Broadway and Union Square.

Manson's appearance was short and sweet. The singer, whose Mechanical

Animals album is due out Sept. 15, stayed only a few minutes. Arriving in a

limousine, he took the stage outside the store's front entrance, cut the red ribbon, posed

for pictures with Branson after drinking champagne -- then quickly departed without

saying a word.

Nevertheless, it was a traffic-stopping event to kick off the opening of the second Virgin

Megastore in the Big Apple, the 15th in North America. This particular Megastore will sell

music, books and Virgin-label clothes and videos, and it will house a 12-screen United

Artists theater complex.

In addition to the Manson-Branson tandem, local drag-queen socialite Lady Bunny

hosted the ceremony; pop boy band 'N Synch performed their single "I Want You Back"

from the top of a double-decker bus parked outside the store; singer Petula Clark sang

her 1965 hit "Downtown" from atop a white horse; and a colorful parade of drag queens,

midgets, bagpipers, polka-dancers and body-builders wound their way from 13th Street

to the store's entrance on the corner of Broadway and 14th Street.

For her part, singer Clark didn't know what all the Manson fuss was about. "To tell you

the truth, I've never even listened to him-her," she said,

referring to Manson's androgynous look.

"I'm kind-of a 'virgin' to the whole thing," added Clark, winking.

Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group of companies, which includes Virgin Airlines,

Virgin Cola and a host of other subsidiaries, brought up the rear of the parade on a white

horse. Wearing a white, pompadour wig that housed an illuminated Virgin sign, a

red-and-black paisley suit and full makeup, Branson looked like a character plucked out

of "Alice in Wonderland" as he rode down Broadway.

Still, Manson stole the show.

When he emerged from his white limo after the parade ended to join Branson on the

stage, the two seemed a perfect study in contrasts -- the outgoing, eccentric Branson

next to the dour-looking, silent Manson. The singer was clad in a long, maroon frock, with

his black hair dyed with red streaks and blue eyeshadow outlining his eyes.

If it were a celebrity mismatch, it worked well with the theme of the new store: "Something

for Everyone." And Branson had a definite reason for inviting the rocker.

"He's outrageous, we're outrageous," Branson explained before the ceremony began.

"We asked him to come and he said 'yes.' And getting Manson is better than getting the

mayor!" he added, referring to the popular, Republican mayor of New York, Rudolph

Giuliani.

Manson and his upcoming album, Mechanical Animals, have recently made

headlines. Target, Kmart and Wal-Mart all have refused to carry the album either

because of its cover art (an androgynous, naked picture of Manson) or because of the

album's parental-warning stickers.

The New York Times' advertising department recently rejected an ad featuring the

album cover, opting instead for an altered and less graphic Manson ad.

But Manson fans attending Friday's ceremony were excited about the new album and

already plan to return to the store on Sept. 16, when Manson will be signing copies of

the CD.

"He gives young kids an outlet to the mainstream," said 22-year-old filmmaker Dan

Mueller, who was there to catch the event. "He challenges the Christian right, and I think

that's good for people to see."

Another fan, 13-year-old Freddy Guffain, said he had heard the single "The Dope Show" and

liked it. "I think the next album is going to be good -- more of the same kind of stuff like

the last album," Guffain said.

"My parents don't like him because he's the Antichrist, but I don't think he really is --

maybe half and half."