It was shaping up to be quite a people watching event as fans of Marilyn Manson and fans of Slayer converged for a crowd of about 11,000 at DTE Energy Music Theatre. Goth-leaning Manson fans and tattooed and drunk Slayer fans aren’t normally the first two groups of people you’d put together in the same place, but there seemed to be more mutual admiration than you think.

As the sun began to set, it seemed like a perfect time for the metal legends of Slayer to hit the stage. Led by singer/bassist Tom Araya, the band wailed through their 70-minute set with a machine gun type precision. Starting with “Flesh Storm” from their recent Christ Illusion album, the band watched as the mosh pits on the lawn were at their worst. As chants of “Slayer!” came from the loyal and faithful, the group mixed through tried and true material such as “Chemical Warfare” and the eerie “South of Heaven.” The set hit a climax with one of the fastest, most intense songs ever, “Raining Blood,” which left the fans aching (metaphorically and probably physically) for more. The band finished up with the even faster “Angel of Death” and sent their fans to recuperate.

Some true Manson fans just trickled in for Manson’s 75-minute set that seemed almost lo-tech compared to past shows. Keeping with the stripped down approach of his latest record Eat Me, Drink Me, Manson new material hasn’t quite meshed with past material. More down-tempo material such as “Just A Car Crash Away” hasn’t found its correct place next to heavier rockers like “MObscene” and “The Fight Song.” Manson’s stage antics also seemed downplayed (probably due to the lawsuit that was placed upon during one of his last stops to DTE). Some of the new songs do work, such as the opener “If I Was Your Vampire” and the Talking Heads meets Queen sounding “Heart Shaped Glasses.” Manson almost looked tamed by the new material and it lacked the angry and nihilistic glee that most of his shows have.

The odd pairing was a better idea than most people initially thought. Little do most fans of the groups realize is that they have more in common than they think. Along with Orange County band Bleeding Through opening up the show, the bands gave the fans of a evening of doom and gloom music. Just the way these fans like it. But on this night, Slayer’s down and dirty musicianship took out Manson’s downplayed stage show quite easily.