By Stephanie Lauze

Poland Regional

High School

On Sat. Aug. 16, my friends and I all piled into a car and headed for Portland. We headed to one of the biggest and best concerts we probably would ever attend. Not knowing what to expect we got into the line to enter the concert. It extended at least a mile back from the doors. As soon as we got into line I looked back and the line grew and grew.

I was surrounded by what people call a gothic style. Trench coats, spikes, and black lipstick made me think, is this safe? Living in Poland, Maine you don’t see much of this type of style. We would have to wait45 minutes in line to reach the entrance of The Cumberland County Civic Center. As we waited in line people started to get crazy. A guy riding a mini motorcycle would fly by us every few minutes screaming crazy things, people were flashing each other, but mostly there was a lot of commotion as to whether we would get in.

Finally the line started to move and we entered the huge building. When I got in I soon wished I could be back outside. Bodies of people were piled together fighting to get a good seat or buy a shirt before they all sold out. Finally we got through the huge mass and found some seats near the stage. The Cumberland County Civic Center was piled with people, some in the seats, but mostly people were sitting on the floor waiting for the first band to perform. We waited a while for the first band, Echo 7, to perform.

When they came on stage everyone jumped out of their seats and got up off the floor and started screaming. This kind of response out of people was normal during concerts. Since I had been to previous concerts before I knew what to expect but I knew that when Marilyn Manson came on it would be a total different experience. That night the bands performing where Echo 7, 6Gig, Chevelle, and Marilyn Manson. My friends and I stayed down on the floor trying to get closer and closer to the stage as the first three bands performed. You really couldn’t turn anywhere and not run into a mosh pit, or someone smoking in your face. I know a few times we would get caught up in the mosh pits and we would just have to go with the flow because getting out of one of those is kind of difficult. Most people coming off the floor were drenched in sweat.

Coming to the concert I wasn’t a huge Marilyn Manson fan. I really wanted to see Chevelle. After Chevelle finished performing my friends and I left the floor and took a seat. The set change between Chevelle and Marilyn Manson was lengthy and many people started to get antsy. After awhile a few of my friends left and just walked around while Jaime and I stayed in our seats. What happened next is what really made the concert awesome.

I was just sitting there and out of nowhere Jaime starts screaming “OMG its Chevelle!” I was just thinking to myself what? Then I realized what she ment. Just a few feet away from us were the members of Chevelle. Both Jaime and I were huge fans of Chevelle so of course we couldn’t control our excitement. After awhile we just inched our way over and finally went up to them and got their signatures. While we were meeting Chevelle a huge roar out of the crowd erupted. I looked over and realized Marilyn Manson was coming on. We got our signatures, said thanks, then ran down to the floor. Everything was being thrown to us at once so for me it took a few minutes to get back into concert mode.

Marilyn Manson’s set was crazy. I had never seen anything like it before and knew from the beginning that he would put on a great show. I didn’t go back into the crowd but had a perfect view from where I was standing. I took notice to how the crowd had totally changed. The crowd was more calm. I didn’t see any mosh pits and the crown just seemed to be swaying back and forth. Some of the things Marilyn Manson did I was expecting but at the same time they were shocking. After he was done performing people came out of the crowd looking sweaty and exhausted but wanting more. After the show ended we made our way out of the building. I noticed how people were acting how they did even before they had entered the concert. I know I wanted to go back and keep the show going. On the ride home everyone was talking about how awesome the concert was and how Marilyn Manson has to come back to Maine. That is if he would be allowed back to Maine. I know from this experience I gained a lot of respect for Marilyn Manson and hope to attend another one of his concerts in the future.