In December 2006, Dita von Teese filed for divorce from her husband, Marilyn Manson, sparking an ignominious year for the shock-rocker, in which he has gone from contemplating suicide to starting a relationship with 20-year-old actress Evan Rachel Wood. The past 12 months have stripped back rock's favourite pantomime dame to reveal the terminally troubled Brian Warner within.
Manson suffered a second loss when the last original member of his band, keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy, quit prior to recording the band's sixth album, Eat Me, Drink Me, then filed a lawsuit against Manson for spending the band's earnings on Nazi memorabilia and the skeleton of a Chinese girl. Manson then launched his own assault on My Chemical Romance, but when they shared the bill at this year's Download festival, a lacklustre performance from Manson made the self-proclaimed "god of fuck" look like an ageing goth in the midst of a mid-life crisis.
As he squirms under blood-red lights tonight, squinting through a fog of dry ice, it seems nothing has changed - although there are now a few extra pounds on Manson's previously icepick-thin frame. Sporting a pink stripe across his eyes, he strides down a short catwalk, showing off the first of several black outfits and shrieking over the textured rock of If I Was Your Vampire.
Manson's voice remains a metallic bark; his fury is unquenchable, especially on the scathing Disposable Teens and Mobscene. But though his own poetry remains mired in childish nightmares and teen rebellion, Eat Me, Drink Me is his most grown-up album yet. Heart-Shaped Glasses is particularly good, a wounded pop song that grapples with the wonder of new romance; tonight, Manson croons the lyrics to a robotic, Alice in Wonderland figure. During Are You the Rabbit?, he climbs on a giant chair, writhing provocatively.
While singer and band alike are energetic, there are no surprises. Whether thrusting against the speakers, strapping himself on to a rising platform that has all the pizzazz of a Stannah stairlift, or getting the audience to chant "We hate love, we love hate", Manson has done it all before. During Irresponsible Hate Anthem, press cuttings about Asa H Coon, a 14-year-old high-school shooter, appear on the giant screen. "He didn't believe in God and instead worshipped Marilyn Manson," one article reads. Though he is never less than entertaining, it's hard to imagine Manson inspiring such devotion now.
· At Braehead Arena, Glasgow (0141-886 8300), on Saturday. Then touring.
