Review - WaxTrax: Industrial Accident Release Party with Ministry & Cold Cave
personKevin Keating
April 23, 2019
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Over the past couple of years, a new documentary covering the iconic WaxTrax! Records has been hitting the festival circuit and racking up award after award in the hopes of getting picked up for wider distribution from a major film studio. We were lucky enough to catch an early cut of the film as part of its west coast debut back in 2017 (you can find it here) -- and we were surprised, but excited to see that Vans was chosen as a launch partner for the film, Industrial Accident: The Story of WaxTrax! Records. As part of the launch, Vans & WaxTrax! organized a mini-6 city tour that included a date in San Francisco at the Great American Music Hall, and where guaranteed tickets could only be obtained through the purchase of the soundtrack on Record Store Day at select retailers in the area. Not only would event attendees get a chance to see the film, but in each city, a panel featuring notable members of the WaxTrax! family would host an audience Q&A session that would precede performances by Cold Cave and none other than perhaps the most notable WaxTrax! artist, Ministry.
WaxTrax! Q&A Panel: Paul Barker, Jello Biafra, Julia Nash, Franke 'Groovie Mann' Nardiello (Photo: Kevin Keating)
In music, when you say the name Ministry, the first thing to come to mind will most likely be the godfather of industrial, Al Jourgensen. But it’s an interesting thought exercise to consider that without WaxTrax! Records, the entire industrial and ‘nu-metal’ genre may not exist today. Let that sink in for a moment, and you’ll soon recognize the cultural significance and lasting impact of the label that founding partners, both in business and in life, Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher established in 1980. Industrial Accident: The Story of WaxTrax! Records, is so much more than just a label retrospective, and in fact, the concept for the film emerged after the appropriately titled 33 1/3 WaxTrax Retrospectacle weekend concert that occurred back in 2011 at Chicago’s Metro after the passing of Dannie Flesher. That ‘retrospectacle’ reinforced the lasting impact of the label, and proved to be the inspiration that Jim’s daughter Julia needed to spearhead the film. It’s ultimately a film that’s much more than just a rockumentary, but a loving tribute to Jim and Dannie, two music fanatics that didn’t seem to care one shit about what anyone else would think, and released music for those of us on the fringe through their record store in Chicago, or mail order... Remember, these were the days long before the Internet and Spotify. Do yourself a favor a pick-up a copy of the film here.
Immediately following the screening of the film, Julia Nash was joined by Franke Nardiello (aka Groovie Mann of The Thrill Kill Kult), Jello Biafra (Lard, 1000 Homo DJs, Revolting Cocks), and Paul Barker (Ministry, Lead Into Gold, etc.) for a panel Q&A session moderated by former WaxTrax store/label employee, Andy Wombwell. The 15 minutes or so went by in the blink of an eye, and one of the funniest moments came when Paul Barker refuted Andy's comment in the film suggesting that an early live performance and subsequent album, was in fact, not live at all. You'll have to watch the film to find out which one it was!
After the panel, the audience was asked to leave the Great American so that the chairs could be removed for the upcoming performances by Cold Cave and Ministry. And roughly 30 minutes later, Cold Cave took to the stage and performed a solid set of darkened synth wave tracks that reminded me of Joy Division with Robert Smith vocals. They were a solid choice to blend the early synth days of the label with the upcoming aggression of Al Jourgensen's Ministry.
Ministry's Al Jourgensen (Photo: Kevin Keating)
Considering the fact that earlier dates on this 6-city run featured Chris Connelly on the Q&A panel and as a guest performer during Ministry's set, the audience couldn't have been blamed for hoping for a reunion of sorts between Uncle Al and his long-time bassist/collaborator, Paul Barker -- who officially left the band several years ago under somewhat acrimonious terms. But no matter what, those of us who snuck a peak at the set list from earlier shows knew we were in for one hell of a set by Al and his current stable of bandmates that include: Derek Abrams on drums, John Bechdel on keyboards, Cesar Soto on guitar, Tony Campus on bass, and Sin Quirin on lead guitar. As the band took the stage, Al made it clear what we could expect for the rest of the evening... This would be a night that would dive deep into their back catalog to a time when WaxTrax was at its peak, and when Al was the creative force behind so many of the albums being released at the time: 1000 Homo DJs, Pailhead, Lard, Revolting Cocks, and Acid Horse to name a few; and introduced the first song of the set... "The Missing"!!! Within seconds, a bombastic kick drum pounded the beat just before screaming guitars joined the mayhem and set the tone for Al's chorus "the miss-sang!" The "Diety" and "Stigmata" followed suit -- all 3 tracks from Ministry's 1988 album, The Land of Rape and Honey. This was possibly one of the strongest openings to any set I can remember, and one hell of a way to drive home this evening's celebration.
Ministry's Al Jourgensen (Photo: Kevin Keating)
Al next jumped to their 1992 release, Psalm 69, to bang out "Jesus Built My Hotrod", "Just One Fix", and "N.W.O", and commenting that the current state of US politics closely resembled the times during which he wrote "N.W.O." From there, the next trifecta came from 1989's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste, with "Burning Inside" leading off the bunch. By this point, the front of the floor had become a danger zone for old, out-of-shape bastards like me, and the safer confines of the Great American's perimeter still allowed you to take in what was going on up on stage, as well as safely view the fully formed mosh pit that only grew larger when the band broke into the opening riffs of "Thieves". Concluding the Mind trilogy was "So What"; one of my favorite Ministry tracks, and it sounded fantastic.
Sin Quirin & Al Jourgensen of Ministry (Photo: Kevin Keating)
If their set had ended after "So What", I would have walked away and still said that they capped off one hell of a night, but Al and company weren't done yet. They were about to truly add the exclamation point to the night celebrating the record label that put them on the map with 3 of the last four songs coming from, WaxTrax! Records releases from the Cocks, 1000 Homo DJs and an early WaxTrax!-era Ministry single. Starting off, was the Revolting Cocks "No Devotion" which Al dedicated to his fallen Ministry brothers, guitarist Mike Scaccia and bassist, Paul Raven, and commented that the song had been the first track the Cocks had written. The 1000 Homo DJs cover of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut" followed, and as the night was closing, I was still wondering which, if any, of the earlier guest panelists would be joining the band on stage... It turned out that as Al introduced the title track from The Land of Rape and Honey, he asked where Jello Biafra had gotten to, and told him to get his ass onstage. As Jello took the mic, he suggested Al change up the mood for the night and play some pop hits, maybe even a slow rendition of "Lay Lady Lay", but Al didn't bite, and the two long-time friends launched into "...Rape & Honey". Closing out the night, the band did an acoustic version of "(Everyday is) Halloween" and admitted they fucked up the last chorus/verse. But besides that minor mistake, the entire evening was a true celebration of what WaxTrax! Records represented, and supported by the artists who were an integral component of the label's impact, Ministry most of all, but also Paul Barker, and Groovie Mann, who will coincidentally be back in the Bay Area next month with stops in both San Francisco and San Jose.
