Samstag, 7. Jun 2008, 14:28
Down to the Bristol Academy again, this time to catch Ministry on what is apparently their last tour.
Obligatory alcohol related comment: meh, the barrels were getting changed on the Guinness so I was left with the option of Carling or Grolsch at the bar. That's even more sucktitude than usual for this place. And no, I didn't have more than the one in the venue for some strange reason…
Didn't see an awful lot of illuminatus, but they were decent enough in a harder edged standard metal style. Brought to mind mind In Flames before they went downhill, with a strangely British quality about them. Wouldn't mind seeing them again in a support role in the future.
It's been nine years since I've seen Ministry live, and then they suffered from being at a festival with a rather swirling sound and being somewhat dull live (which is often a problem with industrial and similar style artists). Would that be the case this time?
No.
It's clear there are a few gimmicks in play. Two chain link fences cover most of the front of the stage, with only the centre open, and has a waist high fence further forward. There's also a rather larger screen at the back of the stage. Looks like we'll be getting some home movies ;)
As for the sound, well, Al Jourgensen's vocals are lost slightly in the mix, but considering his style is closer to barking the lines than singing, it wasn't much of a problem.
The rest of the band, well it's pretty safe to say that Ministry are more of a metal band with industrial tinges than a full on industrial act. And that's not really a bad thing… One thing that is rather clear is that with Tommy Victor on guitar, Jourgensen has a competitor for who's the star in the band. It seems like Victors spent more time hanging out over the crowd, striking poses and playing little guitar related tricks than he did actually playing. But it's clear that he's enjoying it and so are the crowd. Without wanting to seem disrespectful, Victor is a more than capable replacement conspirator for Paul Barker.
The rest of the band seem to be solid and together too and again, seem to be enjoying themselves.
The first part of the set is mainly newer material, with The Last Sucker being a standout, along with an introduction to N.W.O., which would have been very early in the set, had it not been a bait-and-switch for No W. After about an hour the band leave the stage.
The usual encore shenanigans go on and the band reappear, and now it's time for the classics, N.W.O. for real, Breathe, Just One Fix, So What… no Jesus Built My Hotrod, Thieves or Stigmata though…
The band disappear again before another encore session, consisting of covers of Roadhouse Blues by The Doors and ZZ Top's Just Got Paid, before heading off again (which was milking it somewhat) before finishing off with slow and then full speed run throughs of What a Wonderful World.
I would have preferred a few more of the classics myself and some other covers, but if that was to be the last time I'd see Ministry, I would feel that they'd gone out on something of a high.
The only other thing I could've asked for were a few words dedicated to Paul Raven.