LIVE REVIEW: ROB ZOMBIE / MARILYN MANSON – FREAKS ON PARADE @ AMERIS BANK AMPHITHEATRE, ALPHARETTA, GA – AUGUST 23, 2026

The Freaks on Parade Tour rolled into Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Georgia, on August 23, bringing Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson together for a co-headlining night that approached spectacle from two completely different directions. With Orgy and The HU opening the evening, the four-band bill moved from industrial rock and Mongolian metal into two performances built around darkness, horror and theatrical excess.

What makes Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie work so well together is that neither feels like an opening act for the other. Manson’s performance was darker and more controlled, built around atmosphere and a frontman who currently sounds better than he has in years. Zombie followed with a production so enormous that by the end of the night, it was difficult to think of anything he had not managed to put onstage.

Orgy got things started with the industrial and electronic edge that made them an easy fit for the evening. Their sound immediately established the darker tone of the night without giving away what was still to come.

The HU followed with something entirely different. Their combination of heavy music, traditional Mongolian instrumentation and throat singing has always stood apart, and in an amphitheater setting it carried even more weight. Rather than feeling like two bands simply filling time before the headliners, Orgy and The HU gave Freaks on Parade two distinctly different opening chapters.

Then the stage went dark for Marilyn Manson.

As Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” played through the speakers, Manson emerged onto a very sleek stage surrounded by smoke, glowing upside-down crosses and a massive cloaked statue towering over the scene. Compared with the sensory overload that would come later with Zombie, the production was relatively restrained, but that worked in Manson’s favor. Everything onstage framed him rather than competing for attention.

And right now, Manson does not need much help holding it.

He sounded better at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre than he has in years. His voice was strong, controlled and powerful throughout the set, but just as noticeable was his physical presence. He moved with purpose, worked the front of the stage and looked completely comfortable commanding an amphitheater again. This did not feel like a performer slowly trying to find his footing. Manson looked to be in some of the best performing shape he has been in for a long time.

“Exit Wound” opened the set before “Disposable Teens” and “Angel With the Scabbed Wings” quickly reached into different eras of his catalog. “Great Big White World” sounded especially massive in the open-air venue, while “This Is the New Shit” changed the pace before “Front Toward Enemy” and “The Nobodies” pushed things forward. ([Setlist.fm][1])

One of the biggest visual moments of the entire set came during “Tourniquet.” Manson slowly rose at least 15 feet above the stage, with long black fabric extending beneath him all the way toward the floor. From the crowd, it gave the appearance of an enormous floor-length dress as he hovered over the band. Framed by smoke, the glowing inverted crosses and the giant cloaked figure behind him, it was an eerie image and easily one of the night’s most memorable moments.

From there, the set barely let up. “The Dope Show” led into Manson’s unmistakable version of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” followed by “mOBSCENE” before “The Beautiful People” brought his portion of the night to a close. ([Setlist.fm][1])

There is an obvious nostalgia factor in hearing songs from *Antichrist Superstar*, *Mechanical Animals* and *Holy Wood* in 2026, but this performance never felt like Manson simply revisiting the past. The newer songs fit naturally beside material that has been part of his live show for decades, and the strength of his current performance gave the entire set a renewed sense of purpose.

Then Rob Zombie took the stage and apparently decided there was no reason to leave anything in the warehouse.

Zombie’s live show has never been associated with restraint, but the current production is almost unbelievable in scale.

Giant monsters roamed the stage. Massive video screens stretched across the backdrop. An enormous elevated riser spelled ZOMBIE in letters large enough to make sure nobody in the amphitheater could possibly forget whose show they were watching. Horror imagery, animation and video featuring Sheri Moon Zombie ran across the screens throughout the set, turning the stage into something closer to a living horror film than a traditional concert setup.

And then there was the fire.

This was not simply the standard burst of orange pyro that has become common at large rock shows. Zombie’s production sent multiple colors of flame erupting across the stage, changing with the visuals and lighting around them. At different points the entire stage seemed to shift colors around the band, with fire becoming another part of the production design instead of just an occasional effect.

Zombie opened with “F.T.W. 84” and “Tarantula” before “Superbeast” arrived early in the set. “The Triumph of King Freak” followed before the first White Zombie moment of the night, “More Human Than Human,” landed with all the weight that song still carries live. ([Setlist.fm][2])

While the production surrounding him is enormous, Zombie is still the person holding all of it together. He prowls from one side of the stage to the other, constantly moving and working the audience while the controlled chaos unfolds behind him. Somehow, even with monsters, flames and enormous screens competing for attention, he never disappears inside his own show.

“Scum of the Earth,” “Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.” and “Living Dead Girl” kept the pace moving before “Heathen Days” and “Feel So Numb.” Then came one of the most ridiculous, and most effective, moments of the night. ([Setlist.fm][2])

During “House of 1000 Corpses,” Ameris Bank Amphitheatre suddenly disappeared into what looked like a snowstorm. White material filled the air over the venue as Zombie performed beneath it, completely transforming the atmosphere again.

By that point, it almost became funny trying to keep track of everything that had appeared during the set.

Giant monsters walking across the stage. A wall of video screens. Colored flames. Huge moving stage pieces. A towering riser. Horror movie imagery. Sheri Moon Zombie filling the screens. And now a snowstorm.

Zombie had essentially brought every production element you could reasonably drag onto a concert stage, and a few that most artists probably would not even consider.

The important part is that underneath all of it, the songs still hit.

“Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)” brought the set toward its final stretch before White Zombie’s “Thunder Kiss ’65” gave the night one more massive jolt. Zombie then returned for “Dragula,” the only song that really could have ended a show this excessive. ([Setlist.fm][2])

That contrast is what ultimately makes this version of Freaks on Parade work.

Marilyn Manson does not try to out-Zombie Rob Zombie. His portion of the night is sleek, dark and deliberate. The imagery is strong, but the focus remains on Manson himself, and with his voice and stage presence currently in this kind of shape, that is exactly where it should be.

Zombie takes the opposite approach. His show is a full-scale assault on just about every sense available, throwing horror, color, fire, monsters, video and movement across the stage while a catalog of solo and White Zombie songs gives all that madness something solid underneath it.

They are two very different versions of theatrical rock sharing the same bill.

Manson makes you stare at the stage.

Zombie makes it almost impossible to decide where to look.

Rob Zombie Photo Gallery

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Marilyn Manson Photo Gallery

The Hu Photo Gallery

Orgy Photo Gallery

Setlist

• ZOMBIE – F.T.W. 84
• Tarantula
• Superbeast
• The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)
• More Human Than Human
• Scum of the Earth
• Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.
• Living Dead Girl
• Heathen Days
• Feel So Numb
• House of 1000 Corpses
• Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)
• Thunder Kiss ’65
• Encore: Dragula

• MANSON – Exit Wound
• Disposable Teens
• Angel With the Scabbed Wings
• Great Big White World
• This Is the New Shit
• Front Toward Enemy
• The Nobodies
• Tourniquet
• The Dope Show
• Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
• mOBSCENE
• The Beautiful People

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Live photography by Chris Collett for No Flash Needed. © 2026 No Flash Needed. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without written permission.