It’s day one of a new year, and while I am not known for preaching positivity, I will say that we all have a chance to make 2025 great.
I don’t know how y’all fared in 2024, but it wasn’t such a terrible year for me. I got to see and meet Danny Worsnop (Asking Alexandria/We Are Harlot) with my mom, and she amused him so much that he told a story about her on Facebook. My dad took me to the Marilyn Manson/Five Finger Death Punch tour for my birthday. I have been a fan of Manson for almost 25 years, and it was my first time seeing him. As an added bonus, The Funeral Portrait opened the night (and they were phenomenal). And while we’re on the subject of concerts, I finally made it to the promised land: one of my best friends took me to see Creed for Christmas! I missed them during their heyday – I was, like, 10 – and that always depressed me. I was so excited about their reunion, and they were worth waiting for. Mammoth WVH and 3 Doors Down were the openers, and both bands kicked ass!
On a personal note, my best friend moved back to Alabama! I had missed her and her family terribly. I gained self-confidence this year. My friends and coworkers helped immensely with that challenge. I like myself better at 37 than I did at 17.
The negatives for 2024 were huge, I will admit. We lost my paternal grandmother in October. She was my last grandparent, the one I spent the most time with and knew the best, so when I say that it’s been a struggle… More than my own grief, I’ve been very concerned about my dad. It’s only been two years since his youngest brother passed. Now it’s just him and my uncle Chris. If you could spare a thought for them, that would be lovely.
I’m also stuck in a job that doesn’t make me happy, but I plan on changing that as soon as possible. I guess that’s a minor complaint overall, though it does impact me almost daily. Still, I’m thinking positive! I will find something better in 2025!
Happy New Year to all my readers/followers! I hope this January 1st finds you well. Drop me a comment and tell me a good thing about your 2024, or tell me what you’re looking forward to in 2025.
Here are a few pictures from the past 12 months.
Danny WorsnopJericho RoseMe and Dad at the Marilyn Manson showBirthday!Halloween with the bestest and her family 🎃With Jesse at the Creed show 🤘🏻Creed at State Farm Arena 🔥Christmas 🎅🏻
Five Finger Death Punch is hitting the road this summer and fall in support of their latest album, Afterlife, and they’re bringing along some pretty legendary friends: the infamous Marilyn Manson and Russian deathcore outfit Slaughter to Prevail. Tickets available at fivefingerdeathpunch.com (or at either of the other bands’ official sites).
8/2 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium
8/5 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
8/7 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
8/8 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
8/10 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
8/13 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP
8/14 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
8/16 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
8/19 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena
8/21 – Omaha, NE – Chi Health Center
8/22 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
8/27 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
8/29 – Airway Heights, WA – BECU Live at Northern Quest
8/31 – Ridgefield, WA – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
9/3 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
9/4 – Chula Vista, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheater
9/6 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
9/8 – Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand Garden Arena
9/10 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resorts Amphitheatre
9/11 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheatre
9/13 – Durant, OK – Choctaw Grand Theater
9/15 – Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheatre
9/16 – Biloxi, MS – Mississippi Coast Coliseum
9/18 – Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheatre
Hello, all, and welcome to my new subscribers! One thing you will quickly come to realize is that I always say I’m going to do regular life updates here, then I never do. I guess I just don’t think I’m that interesting, so I never do personal posts unless something exciting is going on.
Which means…
Something exciting is going on!!!!
2024 is shaping up to be a year of awesome tours, whatever your preference may be. For me, this is looking to be the year of nostalgia.
First, I posted on Facebook, semi-joking about driving up to Nashville for Creed and my friend from Georgia was like “Or I can take you to the show in Atlanta.” So, I’ll be seeing 3 Doors Down, Mammoth WVH, and Creed in December.
Then, last week, I reminded my dad about a promise he made in 2016. He said if Marilyn Manson came close and I bought the tickets, he’d get me to the show. Well, that year Manson actually played in Birmingham, but I chose not to go (long story). Now, however, Manson will be in Nashville four days after my birthday – and, much to my delight, Dad’s promise still stands!
Y’all have to understand why seeing Marilyn Manson is such a big deal for me. I have been a fan for 25 years and I have never managed to attend one of his concerts. I was too young when my brother introduced me to his music, and soon after, Manson was banned from Birmingham. (It wasn’t a statewide ban, but seriously, where else in Alabama would he play?) As stated, he was able to book shows in Birmingham in 2016 and 2017, but circumstances were against me and I had to skip them.
Finally. Finally, I will be seeing Marilyn Manson. And I. Can’t. Fucking. Wait.
My dad regrets that promise. Lol. He’s not a Manson fan. He doesn’t hate him or anything, he just thinks he’s boring. My mom would probably enjoy the show, but unfortunately, she started having seizures in December 2022. She hasn’t been officially diagnosed with anything yet, and she has been to a concert without incident since then, so it would probably be okay. However, when she asked her neurologist, she was advised against live shows. And honestly, I would never want to put her through that. Neither of us was thinking when we went to see Shinedown. Or, more accurately, I was under the impression she hadn’t had a seizure since January and the concert was in April. She was put on a fairly high dosage of an anticonvulsant at the end of last year and seems to have things under control, but again, I will do everything in my power not to put her in a situation that triggers a seizure. I’ve held her hand through a few, and it’s scary.
Anyway. That’s my big news. As for the rest of my life… I work and come home. Haha! Y’all know how it is.
I hope this post finds all of you well, and I hope positive things are happening for you in 2024!!!!!
P.S. – Manson looks good again! Well. He looks good for him.
I think I actually created this playlist last year, but it has undergone some changes since then! So click the link to visit the actual list on Spotify (this is NSFW), or simply read what made the cut below! Happy Halloween, y’all!
Type O Negative: “Love You to Death”
Type O Negative: “Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)”
Small Town Titans: “Monster Mash”
Marilyn Manson: “This is Halloween”
Ed Ivory, Ken Page: “Oogie Boogie’s Song”
Danny Elfman: “Remains of the Day”
Bruno Coulais, The Children’s Choir of Nice: “Coraline End Credits”
London After Midnight: “The Black Cat”
Avenged Sevenfold: “A Little Piece of Heaven”
Alice Cooper: “Feed My Frankenstein”
Depeche Mode: “Enjoy the Silence – 2006 Remaster”
Marilyn Manson, Sneaker Pimps: “Long Hard Road Out of Hell”
Sneaker Pimps: “6 Underground”
Little Nell, Patricia Quinn, Richard O’Brien: “Time Warp”
Lana Del Rey: “Season of the Witch”
Eagles: “Witchy Woman – 2013 Remaster”
Collide: “White Rabbit”
Rob Zombie: “Dragula”
Crosses: “Bitches Brew”
White Zombie: “Thunder Kiss ’65”
Fall Out Boy: “Uma Thurman”
Backstreet Boys: “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”
The Weeknd: “Blinding Lights”
The 69 Eyes: “Lost Boys”
Ghost: “Dance Macabre”
Keith David: “Friends on the Other Side” (from The Princess and the Frog)
The Alan Parsons Project: “The Raven”
The Alan Parsons Project: “(The System Of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Feather”
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: “Red Right Hand”
Front Line Assembly: “Ghosts”
Creature Feature: “The Greatest Show Unearthed”
Jyrki 69, Steve Stevens: “White Rabbit”
Die Krupps: “The Vampire Strikes Back”
Panzer AG: “Monster”
Rob Zombie: “House of 1000 Corpses”
Rob Zombie: “Pussy Liquor”
John 5: “Beat It”
Anarchy Club: “Behind the Mask”
Graveyard BBQ: “Cheat on the Church”
Bobaflex: “I’m Glad You’re Dead”
Rammstein: “Mein Teil”
Ghost: “Call Me Little Sunshine”
Ghost: “Hunter’s Moon”
Atlanta Rhythm Section: “Spooky”
Alice Cooper: “Welcome To My Nightmare”
Tom Petty: “Zombie Zoo”
Wednesday 13: “I Walked With a Zombie”
Murderdolls: “Love at First Fright”
Escape the Fate: “Zombie Dance”
Escape the Fate: “Gorgeous Nightmare”
Escape the Fate: “Lost in Darkness”
Powerman 5000: “Black Lipstick”
Deftones: “Change (In the House of Flies)”
Muse: “You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween”
Strvngers: “Crucifixxx”
Strvngers: “Necromancer”
Crywolf: “Halloween, 1987”
Andrew Gold: “Spooky, Scary Skeletons (Undead Tombstone Remix)”
Mostly Music 