Courtney & Marilyn: What Happened? Man-Hole tour goes bust after only nine shows. In a move that shocked absolutely no one, Courtney Love announced onstage at Los Angeles' Great Western Forum on March 14th that her band, Hole, was leaving its co-headlining tour with Marilyn Manson after just nine shows. Not to be outdone, Manson severely sprained his ankle during his set, forcing the postponement of three shows, in San Diego, Las Vegas and Phoenix. The new road show - dubbed the Rock is Dead Tour by Manson - restarted with openers Monster Magnet on March 21st in Houston and ends on April 27th in Minneapolis. Hole will launch their own theater tour in May. Though Love and Manson routinely traded insults during their respective sets, Manson says it wasn't egos that caused the split. "Courtney had a real problem playing in front of a Marilyn Manson-dominated audience," he says. "That was the real breakdown. She would say things, and I responded, but it wasn't personal. If Hole had accepted the role as an opener, there wouldn't have been a problem." Ticket sales for the arena tour were sluggish - often only half a venue was filled - but at each date, Manson fans ruled. It wasn't just fan turnout that was uneven: The tour's high production costs were shared equally by both bands, though their respective stages were vastly different. Manson' more elaborate sets left Hole in a losing situation. "They have a production on the road that's bigger than Metallica's," says Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson. "That's great, but I'm not going to pay for it." Hole's management estimates that they would have lost up to $200,000 if they had continued on the tour. Others inside the Hole camp point to ill-matched lifestyles as the root of the problem. "Manson and his entourage were like a drug convoy," says one source. "Courtney would never condemn anyone for doing drugs, but given her history, she was upset and creeped out by it." Manson denies that he did drugs around Love. "The only time she was around drugs," Manson says, "was when she asked me for painkillers. She has pain in her soul." Monster Magnet frontman Dave Wyndorf supports Manson's contention. "She was as insulated as possible," says Wyndorf. "I never saw her. She showed up, she did a sound check, she left. She might as well have been in St. Louis. I don't buy that drug shit." Promoters have offered refunds for the remaining dates (which will now also include either Nashville Pussy or Jackoff Jill), but according to Manson, returns have been only one to two percent of the total tickets sold. "I have no hard feelings," says Manson. "We're still friends in our own strange way. I wish them luck and realize it wasn't the right move for them to tour with us." Matt Hendrickson, Rolling Stone

Thank you Jenn for sending me this article!