DATE: Sunday, May 11, 1997                  TAG: 9705110090

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   37 lines

PROTESTORS AND FANS FACE OFF AT CONCERT

Christian protesters handed out pamphlets and prayed around a cross draped in white cloth as fans of Marilyn Manson, a shock rock band led by a Satan worshiper, showed up for the group's concert Saturday.

The band performed after an aborted effort by the City Council to cancel the concert at the Richmond Coliseum and weeks of community debate. The city relented after the American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue.

Church groups had denounced the concert and the city's decision to allow it. About 75 protesters turned up to confront the mostly teen-age crowd that showed up for the concert.

``Manson is a devil worshiper, and he stands for evil,'' said protester Chris Russell, a member of the First Pentecostal Church of Richmond. ``This city is claimed for Jesus Christ, and we're here to make a stand.''

One Marilyn Manson fan wearing a shirt emblazoned with an upside-down cross set fire to a prayer pamphlet a protester gave him. Another fan wearing white face paint and a nun's habit strutted about near the protesters.

Police were posted around the coliseum, and at least eight officers were stationed inside. Officers said all the protests were peaceful.

Manson, the band's leader and namesake, is a member of the Church of Satan, and the band is known for lewd on-stage acts and songs about murder, rape, sodomy and self-mutilation. Its latest album is titled ``Antichrist Superstar,'' and band members take the stage names of well-known killers and celebrities.

Manson, who is actually Ohio-born Brian Warner, derived his name from Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson.

The band has run into opposition in at least eight other states. KEYWORDS: MARILYN MANSON CONCERT

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