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| Al Jourgensen of Ministry @ the Warfield (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
At long last, the end of the road is coming into sight for the genre defining legendary industrial powerhouse, Ministry. Affectionately known as Uncle Al (Jourgensen), the frontman and founder of the band has gone on record as saying that there are two last Ministry albums left after the release of HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES on March 1st -- there's an 'industrialized' re-recording of Ministry's first album from 1983, With Sympathy, and then one last album that will see the return of Al's longstanding original bassist, Paul Barker. Then they're done. For real this time. And let's be honest, who in their right mind ever expected Uncle Al to be alive at this point let alone continuing to release new material with supporting tours that have kept him on the road for as long as he's been. Al is simply put, my generation's version of Keith Richards -- even after multiple fatal overdoes through the years, Al just can't be stopped and it's only fitting he's calling it quits on his terms. So you've had your fair warning, don't find yourself sleeping the next time Ministry comes to the Bay Area! We were fortunate enough to catch the opening night of their new tour this past Tuesday night at the Warfield and as expected, it didn't disappoint! Read on for all the details and mark your calendars for October 10th when Ministry will be back -- at least within driving distance from the Bay Area - to Sacramento's Aftershock Festival -- find tickets at the link here!
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| Roy Mayorga of Ministry @ the Warfield (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
But getting back to the opening night of the Ministry, Gary Numan, and Front Line Assembly tour, the evening started with Bill Leeb & Rhys Fulber kicking things off promptly at 7:00 with a solid 7-song, 35-minute set that included their hits "Mindphaser" and "Millennium." We last caught FLA when they played the DLA Lounge nearly two years ago (review here) and I'm not sure if it was the larger venue of the Warfield, the sound system, the crowd, or a mix of everything, but their Warfield performance stood out head and shoulders above their last one at the DNA.
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| Bill Leeb & Rhys Fulber of Front Line Assembly @ the Warfield (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
The accompanying band was solid and Bill's vocals sounded identical to those that graced the classic FLA 30 years ago. Check out this fan shot video of their performance below and judge for yourself:
Next up was Gary Numan who we've covered twice over the past ten years or so -- the last show was back in September 2022 for a performance at Bimbo's which you can find here. But this time around, I'd say the setlist and band was just as good as their effort at Bimbo's. But personally speaking, the smaller venue at Bimbo's allowed for a more intimate connection between Gary and the crowd. If I had to point to one thing, it was the numerous large stage monitors across the front of the stage that created an artificial bumper between those on the floor and Gary on stage -- I'm just spoiled I suppose after seeing him/them play at such a small ballroom in the past like Bimbo's. But the highlight of his hour-long set was the closing number "A Prayer for the Unborn" -- a song that features anthemic string synths against a driving drum beat and a rare treat with Gary playing a classic Les Paul with fat guitar riffs -- it's one of his more dynamic songs that switches modes to softer melodic sections before kicking you in the groin with the hard driving rhythms. It was definitely one of my favorites of the night.
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| Gary Numan @ the Warfield (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
Here's a fan-shot video of Gary's set and maybe you'll concur about my opinion on "A Prayer...":
After a short break, Ministry finally walked out onto the stage to the near-capacity crowd promptly at 9:30. But this wasn't the Uncle Al we've witnessed over the past 10-15 years, gone were the dreadlocks and facial piercings and instead, this was an Al Jourgensen that reminded me of the Al of the early 90's -- long black straight hair with an accompanying black cowboy hat just like I remembered him from those early days when I was uncovering what 'industrial' music was all about in the late '80s and early '90s.
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| Monte Pittman, Paul D'Amour, and Al Jourgensen of Ministry @ the Warfield (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
The make-up of the band consisted of the same touring line-up we've seen over the past several years: Cesar Soto & Monte Pittman on guitars, Paul D'Amour on bass, John Bechdel on keyboard/synths, and the incredible Roy Mayorga on drums. At this point, these guys are a well oiled machine and the camaraderie is evident throughout the show.
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| Monte Pittman & Al Jourgensen @ the Warfield (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
The first half of their show consisted of either completely new material off the forthcoming HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES, or relatively new songs from their latest albums, such as the track "Goddamn White Trash." Because the new album isn't actually out until March 1st, we at the Warfield didn't have the luxury of being familiar with the new tracks outside of the singles that have been released so far, but the audiences for the remainder of the tour dates will have at least had the chance to become familiar with the material before their respective showtimes.
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| Jello Biafra & Al Jourgensen of Ministry @ the Warfield (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
Luckily though, for us in San Francisco, we had the special treat of having our own local Bay Area alternative music icon and founder of the Dead Kennedys, Jello Biafra, join the band for a rendition of another new track, "Aryan Embarrassment." Always the provocateur, Jello was proudly wearing a 'Trump Hates Me' t-shirt and commanded center stage as he belted out the notes. At the song's conclusion, Al joked "only in San Francisco, cuz we can't get this guy to come out on the road, and not only that, we couldn't stand him for that long anyway."
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| Monte Pittman & Paul D'Amour of Ministry @ the Warfield (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
And as Al introduced the next song, another new track called "New Religion", Al half-joked again, "we're hitting you with a bunch of new ones, but bear with us, we'll get to the bullshit later." "New Religion" had a catchy hook and could be a new anthem in the pantheon of other Ministry thrashers. It became clear that Al was reinforcing a theme with the opening set of songs -- B.D.E. (Big Dick Energy), Just Stop Oil, Goddamn White Trash, Aryan Embarrassment, New Religion, and then Alert Level which followed... All songs that at their core dealt with everything wrong here in the U.S. Even with Al's distorted vocals, the lyrics were clear as day and hit as hard as the music itself. And to reinforce my point, Al closed the 'new' section of material with "Broken System." Oof. Point taken Al. We're listening and concur.
After "Broken System", Al told the audience 'all right, I commend you for your patience. Letting us get all the new ones out, so we can get a boner up here. Now it's time to give you guys a boner, this one's called "New World Order."' It was with this that the crowd on the floor erupted into an ebbing and flowing mosh pit of folks swirling the floor in unison. For anyone who wasn't familiar with the earlier tracks, that now changed as the original former president George Bush quipped with the closing of "NWO", 'what we are looking at is good and evil, right and wrong, a new world order.'
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| Paul D'Amour of Ministry @ the Warfield (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
And as NWO trailed off, Al yelled, 'This one's called "Just One Fix!"' and the band seamlessly kept the energy pounding away with Mayorga's driving beats on the kick and toms - boom, boom, boom... And the wall of guitars smacking everyone right across the face. The hits kept coming too. Al introduced the next track as 'this one's called "Stigmata"' -- one of Ministry's earliest hit singles from 1988's The Land of Rape and Honey.
At the end of "Thieves", which was one of my highlights of the set, Al commented 'nice, nice' with what seemed to be a sincere thanks to how the crowd had responded throughout the night. He then went on to say 'we're gonna end this hootenanny with one we haven't done in a few years, this one's called "Jesus Built My Hotrod." He was right, the band hadn't played 'Hotrod' since 2019. The track originally featured the Butthole Surfers' vocalist Gibby Hanes write and sing the lyrics, and although it was one of the band's singles in the early 90's, it was never one of my personal favorites. But I have to give it to the band at the Warfield, after an extended intro of sample effects, the song sounded great once they got into it.
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| Monte Pittman & Al Jourgensen of Ministry @ the Warfield (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
My biggest surprise of the night was when at the end of 'Hotrod', Al exclaimed "Thank you San Francisco, good night!" Goodnight? They'd just played for slightly over an hour? Certainly they'd come back for an extended encore, wouldn't they? Luckily, after a few minutes, a roadie came out and asked the crowd, 'you guys want some more?' Yes. Yes we did, thank you!
The band then returned to the stage and Al apologized, "sorry, we needed a quick fentanyl break back there. Nah, just basic marijuana, that's all." He went on to introduce the next song, 'This is a song from the 1980's, early '80's, no, it ain't what you think... It's a song from Magazine and called "The Light Pours Out of Me."' Unlike a Ministry track where it's generally a wall of sound, The Light.. gave enough space for each of the performers to stand out. Roy's drums were relatively simple, but driving. Paul's bass lines provided the heart beating rhythm to the song, and Monte's lead guitar wasn't overpowering, but almost melodic if I had to describe it. It was the closest thing to a true ensemble piece of an industrialized pop song across the night.
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| Monte Pittman & Al Jourgensen of Ministry @ the Warfield (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
Al quipped afterward, 'told you you'd like that one! It's one of my all-time favorites!'
The last surprise (to me) was that Al chose to close the night with not a classic Ministry hit, but a cover of a Fad Gadget song, "Ricky's Hand", saying they've wanted to do this one for a long time. It was an interesting choice to end the night on, but maybe a precursor to the sound of the upcoming re-recorded With Sympathy album?
In classic Al style, he left the stage by saying 'thank you so much San Francisco! You guys have been fucking great! Usually opening nights suck, but you guys have been fucking great! Thank you, thank you so much!' And with that, the night was truly over. What a show! Now we've got Aftershock to look forward to late this year in October!
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| John Bechdel of Ministry @ the Warfield (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
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Here's a fan shot video of the show for posterity sake: