California City Says Marilyn Manson Not Welcome

Shock rocker named in resolution to block such acts from performing in Fresno, Calif.

Contributing Editor Christopher O'Connor and Senior Writer Gil Kaufman report:

The city of Fresno, Calif., has made it official: Marilyn Manson and his like are not welcome.

That was one of the latest objections to the shock rocker's place in American culture to arise since the tragic murders at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. In addition to the siege on Manson shows in Fresno, residents of Minneapolis also were up in arms Tuesday (April 27) about an upcoming performance.

Meanwhile, U.S. senators were drafting a letter to Manson's distributor, Universal Music Group [UMG], expressing concern about his namesake band's song lyrics.

In Tuesday's most dramatic event, the Fresno City Council unanimously adopted a resolution denouncing the presence of acts such as Manson, which they say negatively affect the community. Manson and tour-opener Monster Magnet are scheduled to play the Selland Arena in Fresno on May 4.

"Now, therefore be it resolved ... that the Council of the City of Fresno condemns Marilyn Manson or any other negative entertainer who encourages anger and hate upon the community as an offensive threat to the children of this community," the resolution reads in part. Christine Coleman, an assistant to Councilor Henry Perea, who introduced the resolution, said the council changed the wording from the original proposal to extend it to future events.

"It was modified to make it more broad," she said.

Coleman said proponents of the statement and avid Manson fans attended the meeting, engaging in a lively debate before the resolution's passage.

One top artist came out Tuesday against the ongoing attack on Manson. "I think when something horrific happens, people need somebody or something to blame," Sarah McLachlan said at a New York press conference to announce the '99 Lilith Fair lineup.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the senator is one of several preparing a letter calling for a higher level of corporate social responsibility on the part of UMG. UMG owns Interscope Records, Manson's label. The letter is being initiated by Sen. Sam Brownback Hart, R-Kan., a social conservative.

In Minneapolis, the mayor's office was flooded with calls throughout the day opposing Manson's show at the Target Center set for Tuesday.

The developments are the latest in a series of attacks on Manson since two young men, 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold, ambushed Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., killing 13 people and then committing suicide. The media has reported that the two were fans of Marilyn Manson, KMFDM, Rammstein and other industrial rock bands.

Ann Grider, a spokesperson for Colorado's Jefferson County Public Information Office, said investigators armed with search warrants removed CDs from the homes of Harris and Klebold. There has been no information released regarding which CDs were taken.

With the artist's blessing, the organizers of a radio station-sponsored Manson concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colo., canceled the show scheduled for April 30.

Manson's stage name (his birth name is Brian Warner) and photos have been used in nationally televised discussions about the killings and in newspaper articles on goth culture and media violence. Students in Portsmouth, N.H., were banned from wearing Marilyn Manson T-shirts, and the manager of the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev., fielded more than 100 calls Monday objecting to a May 3 Manson show there.

In Minneapolis, Amy Phenix, press secretary to Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton, said the mayor's office has fielded more than 500 calls from people objecting to Tuesday night's Manson show, which was scheduled to go on without delay as of press time.

Those objections came on the heels of an e-mail advisory sent Friday by the Minnesota Family Council, a nonprofit family advocacy organization, urging members to call for the show's cancellation. Council President Tom Prichard said a community-standards issue was at hand in the wake of the shootings. He lamented what he called Harris and Klebold's "apparent interest" in Manson's music.

"Fundamentally, the messages being transmitted [during the concert] are not ones that are going to be positive or uplifting," he said.

Though Prichard said he doesn't consider music the main cause of last week's ambush, he said the messages within Manson's songs can potentially push young people over the edge. "The music takes on a very dark undertone. Some kids can't handle that," he said.

Phenix said Belton finds Manson "distasteful" but said she was not inclined to interfere. "She believes the concert is not the problem," Phenix said. "She's using this as a parental reminder."

In Washington, D.C., Felicia Knight, Collins' press secretary, said the senators' letter to Interscope still was being drafted. "We're asking someone as a responsible corporate citizen to think [sensibly] about the products they release," she said. The letter would not, she said, ask for any kind of censorship or ban on the band's music, which includes titles such as "Disassociative" (RealAudio excerpt). A representative from Hart's office would not return calls about the content of the letter.

Manson, in a statement released through Interscope last week, called the Colorado murders "tragic and disgusting" and expressed his condolences to the Littleton community.

The murders also have brought words of sympathy and thoughts on accountability from other artists as well. Rappers Jay-Z and DMX are translating their feelings into actions. Holly Taylor, a spokesperson for the ongoing "Hard Knock Life Tour," which also features Redman and Method Man, said the two co-headliners would donate their gate proceeds from Tuesday's show at the Denver Coliseum to the families of the victims.

"We know first-hand how pointless and senseless violence always is and we wanted to show our support in a real way," said Jay-Z (born Shawn Carter) in a statement through Taylor. Jay-Z is the author of such tales of ghetto life as "Hard Knock Life" (RealAudio excerpt). The tour so far has grossed an average of $320,460 a night, according to Pollstar, a trade magazine that covers the concert industry.

At the Lilith press conference, singers McLachlan and Monica offered their views on the ambush. McLachlan explained that the focus on media violence seemed to her like a quick fix, mirroring comments made by Recording Industry Association of America CEO Hilary Rosen on Monday.

"Music might play a part," she said, "video games might play a part, lack of parenting might play a part. I don't think it's fair to single out any one thing."

Monica focused on parenting. "It has to start at home," she said. "If my son and his friend sat in his room for 36 hours, I'd wonder what was going on. That's something music can't control."