Ministry

Ministry 4/14/22

After being rescheduled numerous times due to the pandemic it was finally time to actually see this concert! The delay actually ended up being favorable as neither Melvins or Corrosion of Conformity were originally scheduled to be the openers. Bob and I arrived with just enough time to grab a brew and make our way in front of the sound guy before Corrosion of Conformity come out on stage. My first thought was that House of Blues is always smaller than I remember and my second thought was surprise that COC was opening but in reality Melvins have a much larger discography.

COC handled their business as usual. If a member of one of the other bands on the tour with you (Paul D’Amour) is caught watching from the wings for most of your set then you must be doing something right. As I watched COC I realized that we actually saw COC with Ministry back at Danzig’s “Blackest of the Black” festival about five years before this. I particularly enjoyed “Shake Like You” from their set and wanted to love “Clean My Wounds” but they went into excessive noodling mode for their closer.

SETLIST: Bottom Feeder (El que come abajo), Paranoid Opioid, Shake Like You, Diablo Blvd., Senor Limpio, Vote With A Bullet, Wiseblood, Albatross, Who’s Got the Fire, Clean My Wounds

Melvins are always a treat and this showing was no exception. Buzz has full on adopted the “pissed off Wizard” look and this plays nicely with the brand of music they embrace. “Queen” was ferocious and my favorite on their setlist but it was also cool to see Roy Mayorga come out and do simultaneous drumming with Dale Crover for “Hooch” and “Honey Bucket.” It was hard not to notice the difference in sound quality between COC and Melvins and that got me thinking about how at most concerts the actual sound quality is progressively better with each band on the bill.

SETLIST: The Kicking Machine, It’s Shoved, Anaconda, Queen, Charlie, Billy Fish, Civilized Worm, Never Say You’re Sorry, Evil New War God, Hooch, Honey Bucket, The Bit

Ministry was the original draw for this show and by the end of the night it would be crystal clear why they were the headliner. The tour was originally supposed to be celebrating the 30th birthday of The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste but they also cranked out a new album in Moral Hygiene during the pandemic. Ministry had a chain link fence placed at the very front of the stage, which created a very strange dynamic between the band and the crowd. Were they in a cage or were we? What can I say? I have seen Ministry many times and they always find ways to surprise me. On this night they were LOUD AS FUCK and went deep into the catalog. The Setlist was five oldies to the face followed by two Pailhead songs then another five to the face before three from Moral Hygiene for the encore. The crowd went ape shit the entire show and during “The Missing” I actually went missing to Bob when I got swept up in the “toilet bowl” effect of the mosh pit. The next thing I know I was only four rows from the stage, where I would stay for the rest of concert. It was so much more calm up there versus back by the mixer where I originally was.

SETLIST: Breathe, The Missing, Deity, Stigmata, Supernaut, Don’t Stand In Line, Man Should Surrender, Burning Inside, N.W.O., Just One Fix, Thieves, So What, Alert Level, Good Trouble, Search and Destroy

Coronavirus Concert Casualties

Gatherings of 250 people became officially banned in San Diego as of March 13th, 2020. Nationwide lockdown followed shortly after. The list of concerts below are the ones I intended to attend that have been impacted (so far):

3/13/20 Local H @ Belly Up – RESCHEDULED to 10/10/20 – Local H was set to open for Soul Asylum in support of their album Lifers that was about to drop on 4/10/20

UPDATE 4/24: Local H decided to let fans on their Facebook page vote on an entire album from their catalog for them to play live from their “bunker” in Chicago. The album that received the most votes was Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles? and they livestreamed their performance on both Facebook and YouTube. I would have paid good money to see this live so this was quite a treat as the first livestream concert I ever watched. The picture quality was better on Facebook but the sound was better on YouTube. HHH

3/28/20 Rage Against the Machine @ Pan American Center, Las Cruces, NM – POSTPONED – Before Rage announced a full tour there were originally only five shows scheduled: El Paso, TX, Las Cruces, NM, Phoenix, AZ and as the headliner for both weekends of Coachella. I had no interest in going to Coachella due to the expense and “scene” that I am very much not a part of so Phoenix was the logical choice due knowing people that live there and distance but New Mexico was on a Saturday. That was enough reason for a group of us to decide that a trip was in order.

UPDATE 5/1: The rescheduled tour dates have arrived and it looks like I will not be seeing Rage Against the Machine until May 2021!

4/4/20 Loudermilk @ The Uptown Theatre, Richland, WA – POSTPONED – This was to be the first time I had been “home” in over nine years and with The Ladybird Unition set to open it was going to be like I was 17 years old all over again.

4/13/20 Pearl Jam @ Viejas Arena (SDSU) – POSTPONED – Pearl Jam was one of the first bands that decided to halt their tour. This was to be only my second time seeing Pearl Jam and ironically at the same place that I saw them the first time. This tour was slated in support of the new album Gigaton released on 3/27/20.

4/24/20 The Darkness @ Observatory – POSTPONED – The Darkness was set to tour for their newest effort Easter Is Cancelled, which turned out to be a prophetic title.

UPDATE 5/15: CANCELLED – Well Poop2

5/8/20 The Rolling Stones @SDCCU Stadium – POSTPONED – This was to be the second time I had the pleasure of seeing the Stones. As a bonus this was going to be the opening night of the tour within walking distance of my place on a Friday…

5/22/20 System of a Down, Korn, Faith No More and Helmet @ Banc of California Stadium – POSTPONED – This was a one-off concert in L.A. that had such high demand that a second show was added.

SOAD

UPDATE 5/22: RESCHEDULED – This event will now happen on the same date in 2021 as if this year never happened at all. SKFH

6/10 Styx @ San Diego County Fair – CANCELLED – This was set to be my second time seeing Styx but the show and better yet the entire county fair for 2020 was cancelled.

7/12 The Black Keys @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – CANCELLED – This was to be my third time seeing these Ohio natives. Good thing I was able to see the beginning of the “Let’s Rock” tour back in November.
7/19 Incubus and 311 @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – CANCELLED – Two bands that I like on the same bill is always a treat. I guess this would instead fall under the category of trick.
7/23 Motley Crue @ Petco Park – ??? – On May 1st Motley Crue released a statement saying “Our goal is to have an official update to everyone by June 1 outlining exactly how we will proceed.” All signs are pointing towards an inevitable postponement/cancellation.

UPDATE 6/1: POSTPONED – Shocking! Motley

7/24 Weezer/Green Day @ Petco Park – POSTPONED – What was to be a rare concert on a Friday night is no more…until 2021
7/30 Ministry @ House of Blues San Diego – RESCHEDULED – There is a website called bandsintown.com that I am on the email list for and this was how I learned that the Ministry show got rescheduled to April 29, 2021. Hopefully Uncle Al is still around.
8/1 Primus and Wolfmother @ Open Air Theatre – POSTPONED – This was going to be a unique show with Primus undertaking the task of replicating Rush’s 1977 classic album A Farewell To Kings. I was also looking forward to seeing the entire Wolfmother performance after the last one got cut short.
8/8 Guns N’ Roses @ Sofi Stadium – POSTPONED – This was going to be my second time seeing GNR and first time visiting the new gazillion dollar monolith stadium in L.A. where the Rams and Chargers will play.
9/1 Disturbed @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – POSTPONED – This tour was to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the debut album The Sickness, which now seems like an even more apt title.
10/9-10/11 Aftershock Festival @ Discovery Park, Sacramento – CANCELLED – See you in 2021!

11/1 Aaron Lewis and Sully Erna @ Del Mar Fairgrounds – CANCELLED – Just when I thought I was going to get some sort of live music even this got cancelled…

Slayer 11/30/19

It’s funny how life sometimes comes full circle. I saw the very first date of Slayer’s farewell tour in San Diego and here I was a year and a half later at the very last date of Slayer’s farewell tour in Los Angeles. Not just the last date of their tour but the last Slayer show EVER…or so they claim. I actually believe that these guys are done but time will tell. I was not sold on Slayer alone but when they announced Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals doing a set of only Pantera songs, Ministry and Primus as the openers on a Saturday that made for a pretty easy decision. I got Bob, Kyle and Larry interested but the problem as always was getting tickets so we ended up with shitty seats but when all was said and done we did not sit in our actual seats even once.

Usually the openers suck, which gives us time to suck down more beers at the hotel room but when the opener is Philip Anselmo & the Illegals playing an entire set of Pantera songs you get your ass to the venue. I had just seen them a month and a half earlier in Sacramento but this is the closest I am ever going to get to seeing Pantera again so better to strike while the iron is hot. They did play three songs that they did not play at Aftershock so that was the cherry on top, including “This Love” with a brief Jason Momoa appearance. This is about the time I started getting lit so it is not surprising that I have no pictures from this point forward in the night.

SETLIST: Mouth for War, Becoming, I’m Broken, Goddamn Electric, Strength Beyond Strength, Fucking Hostile, This Love, A New Level

Wait, there’s more after that kick in the nuts and the next band up is Ministry? Fuck yeah! This was the first time I got to see Ministry with ex-original Tool bassist Paul D’Amour and their choice of setlist was absolutely perfect. It was heavy as fuck and the songs seemed to have their edge back. Only much later did I find out that Joey Jordison was drumming for Ministry and now it all makes perfect sense.

SETLIST: The Missing, Deity, Stigmata, Supernaut, Just One Fix, N.W.O., Thieves, Jesus Built My Hotrod

Primus seemed slightly out of place in this lineup but then again Primus are kind of always out of place next to any other bands. Les and company brought it as usual and I especially enjoyed the songs they played from Sailing the Seas of Cheese and Pork Soda.

SETLIST: Those Damned Blue-Collared Tweekers, Too Many Puppies, Sgt. Baker, The Seven, Cygnus X-1, Southbound Pachyderm, Mr. Krinkle, Welcome To This World, Professor Nutbutter’s House of Treats, My Name Is Mud, Jerry Was A Race Car Driver

Ironically Slayer was the band I was least excited to see at this show but the crescendo was finally here and being Los Angeles it was a star-studded event. Slayer did not have any guest appearances during their set but the likes of Kirk Hammett, Robert Truillo, Post Mallone, King Diamond and others were sighted milling about. Slayer played a monster 20 song set and then after they were done a very emotional Tom Araya stood on the stage afterwards for quite awhile to soak it all in and thank everyone for being a part of his life. It was a very tender moment from someone who made such non-tender music and it was perfect.

SETLIST: South of Heaven, Repentless, Postmortem, World Painted Blood, Hate Worldwide, War Ensemble, Stain of Mind, Disciple, When the Stillness Comes, Born of Fire, Payback, Seasons in the Abyss, Jesus Saves, Chemical Warfare, Hell Awaits, Dead Skin Mask, Show No Mercy, Raining Blood, Mandatory Suicide, Angel of Death

Metal Injection Writeup

Blabbermouth Writeup

Ministry 7/21/17

So yes I just saw Ministry less than two months before this at Blackest of the Black but this is Ministry we’re talking about here. I was ready to happily break my streak of never seeing them play at the same venue more than once but held off on buying a ticket until the last minute because as per usual I could not find anyone that wanted to go…even though it was on a Friday! I was clued in on a cool pre-show party for $50 where you could go listen to the entire new album AmeriKKKant (as of yet no official release date other than “Fall”) with the band. It was tempting but I decided against it because I figured that I would not really get to talk to them even IF the band actually showed up since everyone would be clamoring to chat them up. Back to the problem at hand: someone to go with. Lucky for me my friend Larry just moved back into town, loves going to concerts and agreed to go but he wanted me to buy his ticket and pay me back…which would be okay except he left me with an extra ticket to sell once before, has two children and shit happens. Ultimately I ended up finding two tickets on StubHub for $6 each ($10 with all service fees) so I just bought two and rationed that even if he did flake I would have only paid $20 for my ticket. Shortly after this purchase he did flake. I promptly replaced Larry with Tom after offering him a ticket at no cost. After meeting up with Tom at a brewery across the street from House of Blues I learned that Tom did not even know who Ministry was but agreed to go on my recommendation alone. Nice!

We went in just in time to see the last two songs of the opening band Ho99o9 (pronounced Horror) which was one of the few opening bands I have ever seen that made me wish we would have seen their whole set. I did not know what the fuck I was watching. It sounded like there were live guitars but it was just two MC’s and a drummer. At least we caught two of their songs.

Ministry killed it again and we secured a spot with a perfect vantage point to enjoy it. Rather than tell you about something you cannot truly appreciate unless you were there I will say thank you to the asshole that filmed the entire show and post the link to let you watch for yourself. I am still reeling from their choice to close with “Filth Pig.” Tom told me this was the “heaviest” concert he has ever been to. It is definitely not a show he or I will forget anytime soon.

SETLIST: Punch In The Face, Rio Grande Blood, Senor Peligro, Lies, Lies, Lies, Antifa, Waiting, Worthless, Bad Blood, N.W.O., Just One Fix, Thieves, So What, Psalm 69, Filth Pig

Blackest of the Black 5/27/17

Sat

Today was all about Ministry and Danzig but that would not be going down until almost 8 pm so we had to keep ourselves occupied all day as we were completely isolated in the canyon. Sleeping in was not an option to kill part of the day because tents tend to become similar to miniature greenhouses once the sun rises. The first order of business then became breakfast. The only food we brought with us were snacks but we had bought some food the day before at the Mexican food truck that had posted up in the campgrounds and were assured they would be there again in the morning serving breakfast. No such luck. That left only the “General Store” which was a tent selling a handful of items. One such item was a frozen Jimmy Dean sausage croissant, which I promptly purchased and overcooked in the provided dilapidated microwave. I’ve had worse. Showers were also advertised as being available but ran out of water after about an hour but who was I kidding? I had no interest in showering just to get dirty again. I was confident I would be fine until the next day when I got home, especially because I planned on drinking for a good portion of the day.

Once we got back to the camp spot I had convinced the guys to see if we could hike to the top of the nearby mountain because what the fuck else were we going to do all day? We knew if we just drank all day we would either be so fucked up that we would not remember seeing Ministry and Danzig or just pass out and miss it altogether. The hike turned out to be more difficult than we thought it would be and may or may not have involved some trespassing. After making our own trail for quite some time we finally came to a service road that took us far enough to realize that what we thought was the top of the mountain was really just one in a series of mountains. The highlight of the trek was witnessing two ravens harassing a hawk. Satisfied with our exploration we made our way back down to camp and proceeding to “get our drink on.” As we arrived closer to camp we also noticed our friends at the Mexican food truck had indeed made it back…just much later than promised. After drinking the remainder of our haul and shooting the shit some gal who was walking by our spot asked us who we were there to see. It seems we had lost track of time and Ministry was going on in 10 minutes! We got our shit together real quick and got in just in time to see Ministry kill. Uncle Al seemed extremely lucid and was weird as ever. They played pummeling versions of old songs and debuted the killer new song “Antifa” from the upcoming album AmeriKKKant. I really like the fact that all five times I have seen Ministry have been at different places.

SETLIST: Psalm 69, Punch in the Face, Antifa, Rio Grande Blood, Senor Peligro, LiesLiesLies, Waiting, Worthless, Bad Blood, N.W.O., Just One Fix, Thieves

Danzig was the other reason we came here; partially as a curiosity having never seen him. The guy is an enigma of sorts. I never thought there was any Danzig I enjoyed until hearing “Brand New God” from Danzig 4 in the back of Joe’s VW Beetle whilst on acid at 18 years old. While I was not lucky enough to hear “Brand New God” Danzig was partially playing this show to celebrate a brand new album, Black Laden Crown, that had dropped the day before. Danzig ripped with Tommy Victor on guitar and I was digging all the stuff they played. Danzig commanded the stage in a way that only experience can. Castle Danzig however did not make a reprise. Nor did the “Amusement Rides,” aka Carnival Swings.

SETLIST: SkinCarver, Twist of Cain, Devil on Hwy 9, Her Black Wings, Godless, Left Hand Black, How The Gods Kill, Do You Wear the Mark, Dirty Black Summer, Last Ride, Black Mass, Long Way Back From Hell, Snakes of Christ, Mother, She Rides, Am I Demon

Ministry 6/21/12

Al Jourgensen broke up Ministry in 2008 and said that a reunion would never happen…well apparently four years later he changed his mind, decided to record an album called Relapse and then tour behind it. The only North American dates for the tour were to take place in Denver, Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago so my buddy Joe from Portland decided to meet me in L.A. with his girlfriend at the time Shaina. After all, this was kind of the rock equivalent of Jesus rising from the dead.

Once the dust settled I learned that Joe’s flight would be coming into L.A. early in the morning. The plan was for me to meet up late afternoon in downtown L.A. at the roach coach of a motel that was secured fairly close to the venue. There was nothing inherently wrong with this plan except Joe with nothing in particular to do all day on vacation equals drinking. I warned him to just stay away from hard liquor if he intended on drinking all day. He decided to not heed the warning and was pretty sauced by the time I showed up. This ultimately resulted in Joe being denied entry into the concert…after he flew all the way down from Portland to see Ministry! This put Shaina (who I literally had known for about two hours) and I into an awkward predicament. I felt bad for Joe but still wanted to see the show. Joe insisted that we go in without him but then kept texting Shaina once we were inside which made her feel like she should go meet up with him. I was not going to let her walk through downtown L.A. in the middle of the night by herself so if she had decided to leave I would have left too. Thankfully she decided to stay.

Opening band Blackburner looked like two of the bunny character from Donnie Darko and put on a pretty good show but everyone was there to see Al. I had not seen Ministry since the C U LaTour four years before this and I am glad I got to see this because they kicked ass as per usual. It was a very balanced setlist from the “newer” Ministry albums and the brand new songs fit right in. Shaina did not really know their music so that was interesting hanging out with a complete stranger that was not really a fan. Nothing a little alcohol could not cure.

SETLIST: Ghouldiggers, No W, Rio Grande Blood, Senor Peligro, LiesLiesLies, 99 Percenters, Watch Yourself, Life Is Good, Waiting, Worthless, Relapse, The Last Sucker, Khyber Pass, Psalm 69, N.W.O., Just One Fix, Thieves

Ministry 4/7/08

The “C-U-LaTour” was meant to be Ministry’s farewell tour in support of their final album The Last Sucker that had come out about seven months before this show. Apparently Uncle Al felt like the band had run its course. You could have fooled me. This two plus hour romp felt more like a band trying to recruit new fans rather than say goodbye to existing ones. I love that every time I have seen Ministry has been in a different city and venue. Since I had not seen them for about five years it was great to finally see “Wrong” live. The three cover songs at the end of the set were a bit of a surprise since Ministry’s own catalog is so deep but it looked like they were having fun. Thanks to the person on the balcony that caught “Under My Thumb” on video for all to enjoy.

SETLIST: Let’s Go, The Dick Song, Watch Yourself, Life Is Good, The Last Sucker, No W, Waiting, Worthless, Wrong, Rio Grande Blood, Senor Peligro, LiesLiesLies, Khyber Pass, So What, N.W.O, Just One Fix, Thieves, Roadhouse Blues (The Doors), Just Got Paid (ZZ Top), Under My Thumb (The Rolling Stones)

Ministry 3/19/03

This was the second time I was lucky enough to see Ministry and it came the day after my 25th birthday. This tour was deemed the “FornicaTour” in support of the album Animositisomina that had come out about a month before this concert. I was able to get a really good spot on the balcony upstairs that was as close to the stage as possible. Mind you the Roseland is not a very big place to begin with so I was happy as a Filth Pig in shit. Like how I did that? Anyways what I remember most is Ministry having a female drummer, which to this day I do not think I have seen in another band as heavy as Ministry. The setlist they chose for this night just kept coming like punches to the face but instead of feeling beat up at the end of the night I felt like I needed to go wash my jeans.

SETLIST: Animosity, Unsung, Piss, Dead Guy, Filth Pig, Bad Blood, Psalm 69, Crumbs, Supermanic Soul, Reload, N.W.O., Just One Fix, Hero, Thieves, Jesus Built My Hotrod, Breathe, Stigmata, The Light Pours Out of Me

Ministry 8/20/99

I started liking Ministry thanks to Claude because of the album Psalm 69. We made the trip to Seattle again to see Ministry for the first time. This was also my first experience at the Paramount Theatre. We stayed with T-Bone and I remember that Claude and I got super stoned and were running a little late and then halfway to the venue Claude realized he forgot his ticket! All worked out well and we rocked the fuck out in the floor section of the Paramount. Ministry was on tour for Dark Side of the Spoon, which had come out just a few months prior.

Besides this show I still couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do with myself. I had missed the deadline to get into any school for the fall and since I still couldn’t get a full time job in the Tri-Cities I decided to move. I didn’t know where I wanted to move but knew that I had to leave the Tri-Cities. I was a big fish in a little pond and it was just too conservative for me. About the time of this show I had all but decided to sell everything I own and move to NYC and then got a little freaked out at the last minute about the possibility of being that far away from everything I’d ever known without a cent to my name. The idea was that the modeling agency was going to put me up in an apartment with other guys working for the agency. All I had to do was get there and presumably work. Ultimately I decided against it mostly because the agency had only been around for about six months and the risk/reward equation didn’t seem to add up. About a year later I ended up finding out that the agency went out of business shortly after this but it’s still fun to pose the question “what if?”

Rock N Roll Recollections

Fuzzy recollections of bands that rocked my world