In what should have been the single-most defiant and defining moment of the evening, Marilyn Manson [ tickets ] lit a Bible on fire and threw it from a pulpit at center stage during "Antichrist Superstar," one of the final songs of his 80-minute set in Irvine, CA, Friday night (8/24).

Unfortunately, it came only a few minutes after he delivered the night's campiest moment, performing "The Fight Song" inside a velvet-roped boxing ring while wearing a fighter's robe and mock sparring gloves. In addition to representing just how far Manson's once incendiary live set had fallen, the 180-degree turn also offered a fitting reminder of the gap between Manson and the night's blitzkrieg of a co-headliner, Slayer [ tickets ].

A decade ago, this tour couldn't have even been talked about, as the bands were two of the most loathed and despised acts of America's moral majority and conservative right, and the protests and outcry would have been louder than the music blasting from Slayer [ tickets ]'s amps, which hung from either side of the stage in an inverted-cross formation.

In 2007, however, a lot has changed. Just six months ago, Slayer received the ultimate nod of approval from the music industry, their song "Eyes of the Insane" from latest release "Christ Illusion" being awarded a Grammy in the Best Metal Performance category.

Manson, meanwhile, is on a comeback of sorts, his new release "Eat Me, Drink Me" embracing the hallucinogenic world of author Lewis Carroll, his relationship with 19-year-old actress Evan Rachel Wood resurrecting tabloid attention, and this summer's tour offering him the perfect opportunity to prove that he remains sharp enough to carve a much-needed niche back into the world of hard rock and heavy metal.

Instead, Manson's performance at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater proved rusty and dull, as if he's spent too much time trying to explore the hidden corners of his mind, and not enough time trying to reconnect with the sound and vision that has made him one of the most compelling artists of the modern era.

The moment the Goth classic "Bela Lugosi's Dead" piped through the sizeable crowd forewarning the arrival of Manson, the directions for the night's proceedings split into two. Marilyn Manson [ tickets ] chose the path most-commonly traveled.

Always hailed for being a step-ahead of his audience and a middle-finger ahead of his critics, the only thing cutting-edge about opening Bauhaus-rip "If I Was Your Vampire" was the microphone Manson wielded, which was modeled in the form of a knife. The set started slow, and plodded from there, "Disposable Teens" and "mOBSCENE" failing to spark, and what little momentum there was fading when the "Alice in Wonderland" intro to "Are You the Rabbit?" revealed a larger-than-life chair, and a Manson delivery that proved more Lily Tomlin on "Saturday Night Live" than Grace Slick in pursuit of the white rabbit. His vocals, while never pristine, sounded strained and hoarse, his staple cover of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" receiving the loudest ovation, and transitioning into early favorite "Lunchbox," which should have turned things around, but instead was performed in as lumbering a manner as the bulk of the set.

With the exception of a few spotlight-sharing moments from guitarist and main collaborator Tim Skold, notably the Black Sabbath-styled intro to "Putting a Hole in Happiness," the band (aside from Manson, only drummer Ginger Fish remained from the outfit's groundbreaking early lineup) proved unremarkable and lost in the background, their lack of personality proving a stumbling block. Once the poster boy for unpredictability and reckless abandon, Manson appeared to be going through the motions in Irvine, and the set suffered as a result. That said, if the show had started as strong as it ended, Manson would have given the mighty Slayer a run for their money.

"The Reflecting God" slammed, the band and Manson firing on all cylinders and with a bombast that was absent from the first hour. Rising from the stage in a billowing cloud of thick white smoke, Manson sang the lyrics while levitating 50 feet above the stage. In a set that pandered to the now-mainstream sensibilities of tour sponsor Hot Topic, the anti-establishment attack was back.

Even if it was too little too late, it was a welcomed change of pace that continued with his signature "Antichrist Superstar" and culminated with closer "The Beautiful People." Rather than waiting for a thunderous finale, Manson would have been better served to use the closing trio as the set's openers, as they would have made a much smoother transition from Slayer's remarkable 14-song performance.

Unlike Manson, Slayer lived up to their billing as one of metal's counter-cultural icons. Anchoring a set that didn't stray far from today's world headlines, chants of "Slayer" were met by openers "Flesh Storm," "War Ensemble" and "Chemical Warfare." Frontman Tom Araya introduced "Cult" as a song "about coming together and enjoying each other's company," images of infamous cult-leaders and insignias flashing on the video screen behind the band, and the visuals transforming into a deluge of blood, skulls and Slayer logos during the band's punk-thrash 9/11 retaliatory anthem "Payback."

"You guys don't want to do that, do you?" the frontman mused as fires started to spark in the general admission lawn section, where they continued throughout the night, no doubt fueled by Slayer's crushing finale of "South of Heaven," "Raining Blood," "Hell Awaits," "Mandatory Suicide" and "Angel of Death."

On the contrary, when a bill packs the defiant promise of co-headliners of Slayer and Marilyn Manson's marquee stature, fires on the lawn should have been the least of people's concerns.

While Slayer played their part in keeping the hell fires burning, Manson demonstrated a stronger desire to play absinthe-drinking, Goth-inspired tour guide than the self-professed Anitichrist superstar for which he is acclaimed. That might have made for a more successful transition had he taken the stage first, but sharing a stage with Slayer is a historically daunting task. On Friday night, the Bay area thrashers proved why, and Marilyn Manson disappointingly proved not up to the task.

Marilyn Manson Setlist: "If I Was Your Vampire" "Disposable Teens" "mOBSCENE" "Are You the Rabbit?" "Sweet Dreams" "Lunchbox" "Just a Car Crash Away" "Heart Shaped Glasses" "Rock is Dead" "The Dope Show" "Putting a Hole in Happiness" "The Fight Song" "The Reflecting God" "Antichrist Superstar" "The Beautiful People"

Slayer Setlist: "Flesh Storm" "War Ensemble" "Chemical Warfare" "Ghosts of War" "Jihad" "Cult" "Disciple" "Bitter Peace" "Payback" "South of Heaven" "Raining Blood" "Hell Awaits" "Mandatory Suicide" "Angel of Death"