To be honest, though I made fun of the kids there, it was a fabulous show. And it was kind of cool to see all these kids get into it as it was probably the first time they’d heard the band. Plus, I stand about 6’ 4" and I could see over the tops of most of these kids’ heads.
Well you got lucky, Gunnar.
At the Lake City Florida show Al would get and mumble into the mic and then go back and lean on an amp for the rest of the song. Pretty sad.
Paul was way into it, though. He sometimes said stuff to the crowd, but his mic had so much distortion effect on it I couldn’t understand a word.
I’m trying to remember which tours I saw Ministry on. I’m fairly sure it was Animositisomina, and the one after that. About a year apart, at the same venue, the first one rocked my nuts off, the other one blew. Sounded like a shitty metal Ministry cover band. Probably didn’t help that I saw Skinny Puppy tear the roof of that bitch around the same time.
Well you got lucky, Gunnar.
At the Lake City Florida show Al would get and mumble into the mic and then go back and lean on an amp for the rest of the song. Pretty sad.
Paul was way into it, though. He sometimes said stuff to the crowd, but his mic had so much distortion effect on it I couldn’t understand a word.
I think that’s one of the problems with the drugs. Not that they don’t have the “potential” to bring about a really momentous show, but that it makes everything so unpredictable and unreliable.
You might get a madman Satanic Jourgensen spitting venom and rocking your balls off. Or you might get a mumbling mess of a jerk, drooling and nodding off from the smack.
I’ve seen Ministry a good batch of times. With no factoring in for the set list/ song choices . . . .
Psalm 69 tour and Lollapaloosa: AMAZING
Filth Pig tour: AMAZING
Dark Side: AMAZING
Houses: They sounded pretty good.
RGB: I thought they sounded their worst on this one.
TLS: They sounded pretty good, actually (saw them in both San Diego and Dublin)
Even though I’m a huge supporter and fan of Mikey, the RGB show (I saw it in Hollywood) just did not do it for me. I spent most of the time at the bar talking with some old burnouts about how awesome Twisted Sister and Dokken are.
My first Ministry show was the 2nd stop of the Filth Pig tour here in KC. We were right up front and saw everything. Al was gone, but the show was good. They played Lay Lady Lay which was one of the few times it was played live. I remember sitting outside the venue beforehand and hearing the sound check. They played Deadguy, but didn’t include it in the show. Decent show.
I then saw them on DSOTS at the same venue and was less impressed. Al almost needed to be propped up and the Sax on every tune was overkill. It had its moments, but otherwise it didn’t work. Bad Blood was the only song from DSOTS even played.
I next saw AL and Co in Lawrence, KS on the Houses tour and have to admit is was excellent. The band was tight, the venue was small and packed. Not a single complaint.
A year later I saw them in Tempe, AZ on the Rio tour and like most of you was not impressed. It could be that the Cocks opened up and were very good or just hat my expectations were too high after the show a year earlier, but the gig just didn’t stand out.
I haven’t seen anything since. I’d definitely go see them one more time.
The nu-RevCo performed way better than Ministry on that tour. Had a better setlist, too.
On the Houses tour this was in Anaheim, CA at the House of Blues. The band was tight and everyone did their thing properly. I blame the sound guys and/or venue for it not sounding as good as it could. And it didn’t sound loud enough. I’m thinking maybe since it’s part of Downtown Disney that they maybe limit how loud they can play, but it just seemed like it should have been louder (this coming from the guy who often uses earplugs at shows). RGB at Hollywood HOB was just a sloppy mess, in my opinion. And Al just seemed like a bitter ass.
I’ve always wanted to go to Wacken. There’s usually enough 80’s washups to keep me entertained (I don’t really give a rat’s ass about 90% of the music today).
I’m with you there. I find that the music is a bit of a distraction at festivals. The real fun is in the interaction with the people there.
That was actually one thing that made the Dublin shows so great. The concerts were almost an afterthought for me. But invading the “Bleeding Horse Saloon” for three straight days and nights and partying with about 15-20 other kooks that sort of met via the internet . . . it was pretty damn special.
You know that comment about Paul speaking into his mic reminded me of something. Though they have multiple mics on stage (keyboard player/I guess Paul etc) What songs have back-up vox? I can’t remember hearing anyone but Al do vox live. BTW I saw clitour-fornica RGB and though Al did jack shit as far as performance at the '03 show the music/sound was tight as fuck
I never saw any of the shows from “Animositiminblabblahblah” but I heard quite a few reports that they were crap as well.
I caught Ministry on the Fornicatour (Dublin, '03) and it still might be the best gig I’ve been to. Maybe because they played a pretty decent ‘best of’ set but it still rocked and there were no technical problems that I picked up on. They finished with JBMHR which didn’t really work but the rest of the gig was great stuff. If it had Deity and/or Lava it would have been the ultimate gig of all time but I was happy with what I got. ‘Dead Guy’ and ‘Supermanic Soul’ were unreal.
You know that comment about Paul speaking into his mic reminded me of something. Though they have multiple mics on stage (keyboard player/I guess Paul etc) What songs have back-up vox? I can’t remember hearing anyone but Al do vox live. BTW I saw clitour-fornica RGB and though Al did jack shit as far as performance at the '03 show the music/sound was tight as fuck
Good question.
I don’t remember what songs Paul used the mic for - this was 15 years ago now.
over the decades, paul took over the vocals on some songs to keep the show going.
in the infamous (mock) words of mike judge, " Wacken…"
Max Brody also did backup vox on the 99 tour, in case Al’s voice was too blown out to. He revealed it in the interview on this site, actually.
Perfect show for Post-Mini-Estereo to play - Wack is now in. Let it rain.