Mechanical Animals (tour)

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For the album see Mechanical Animals (album)
For the song see Mechanical Animals (song)
Mechanical Animals Tour
Tour by Marilyn Manson
Supporting album Mechanical Animals
Start date October 25, 1998
End date January 31, 1999
Legs 3
(2 completed, 1 cancelled)
Shows 52
(46 completed, 6 cancelled)
Marilyn Manson tour chronology
Dead to the World
Mechanical Animals Tour
Support for Hole's Beautiful Monsters Tour

Mechanical Animals was the sixth tour Marilyn Manson embarked on, under management of major record label Interscope Records. It was also the band's second tour to span over multiple legs, despite only spanning two legs rather than that of the Dead to the World's eight legs. After originally slated to start on June 26th 1998, the first set of dates were canceled and the band was on the tour from October 25, 1998[1] until January 31, 1999.


Track listing[edit]


  1. "Inauguration of the Mechanical Christ"
  2. "The Reflecting God"
  3. "Great Big White World"
  4. "Cake and Sodomy"
  5. "Posthuman"
  6. "Mechanical Animals"
  7. "I Want to Disappear"
  9. "The Speed of Pain"
  10. "Rock Is Dead"
  11. "The Dope Show"
  12. "Lunchbox"
  13. "User Friendly"
  15. "Rock 'n' Roll Nigger"
  16. "Antichrist Superstar"
  17. "The Beautiful People"
  18. "The Last Day on Earth (Acoustic)
  19. "Irresponsible Hate Anthem"
  20. "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes"
  21. "Golden Years"

Opening songs[edit]

Tour legs[edit]

Tour Leg Time Span
Mechanical Animals Tour: European Festival Leg (Cancelled) 1998/06/25 – 1998/07/12
Mechanical Animals Tour: World Leg 1998/10/251999/01/12
Mechanical Animals Tour: Big Day Out Festival Leg 1999/01/151999/01/31


After declining a headlining slot at the failing Lollapalooza summer music festival (along with numerous other bands) in early 1998 due to delays in Mechanical Animals' release, the band launched the first of their own headlining tours in support of the album.[2] The tour was originally intended to begin on June 25, 1998 with a series of 6 festival dates in Europe lasting until July 12, 1998.[3] However, drummer Ginger Fish became ill with mononucleosis, leading to the cancellation of the entire summer European leg and the postponement of the beginning of the tour to October 25, 1998 in Lawrence, Kansas.[3]

Performance and show themes[edit]

With this being the first leg of the tour, the stage show was minimal compared to later legs of the tour


As with the band's preceding 1997 world tour, Dead to the World, the Mechanical Animals Tour met with heavy resistance from civic and religious leaders. The first of these protests occurred on October 19, 1998. A month before a planned performance at the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse, New York, local activists began calling for a cancellation of the engagement. According to Associated Press, then-Syracuse Mayor Roy Bernardi attempted to block the venue's permit, citing a "moral obligation to the people of Syracuse", without specifying any reason for his objections. Onondaga County officials also attempted to extort the Landmark into halting the event by threatening to withhold $30,000 in county funds earmarked for the venue, prompting the venue's bookers to consider dropping the show altogether. Despite this, representatives for the Landmark started selling tickets on the day it was planned and the performance took place on the arranged date and venue.[4]


Critical reception[edit]

Music critic Tim Finn of the The Kansas City Star commented that, overall, the show was "far less a spectacle than the Antichrist Superstar tour."[1]

Photo Gallery[edit]

Mechanical Animals Tour Images[edit]

Main Article: 1998-1999 Mechanical Animals imagery#Live - Mechanical Animals Tour


MTV tour promo


  • The Mechanical Tour marked the first time back-up singers accompanied the band onstage.[5]


  1. 1.0 1.1 "Marilyn Manson Kicks Off Tour". MTV News. 1998-10-28. Retrieved 2011-03-21. 
  2. Fischer, Blair (1998-04-03). "Cruel Summer: Lollapalooza '98 Canceled". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. Retrieved 2011-06-08. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Marilyn Manson Shows Canceled". VH1. MTV Networks (Viacom). 1998-06-24. Retrieved 2011-06-12. 
  4. "Marilyn Manson Tour Draws First Protests, Syracuse Show May Be Blocked". MTV News. 1998-10-19. Retrieved 2011-03-21. 
  5. "'On Mechanical Animals‘ “Rock Is Dead,” for instance, he underscored his frustration with modern rock by bringing out a pair of backup singers in the style of soul-pop singer Tina Turner' - Manson’s ‘Dope Show’ Drops In On Kansas Town". MTV News. 1998-10-26. Retrieved 2014-10-04.