I was not at all planning on attending the final Ministry tour at first, but then I thought perhaps I should wait and see what material they play, in hopes they play a decent amount amount of classic material from the Barker era.
But then it occurred to me that even if said material is revisited, what are the chances it will sound good as played by the latest and final incarnation of Ministry? Even when they’ve played Thieves, NWO, Just One Fix, and So What? in recent tours it just kind of felt like they were going through the motions to please the crowd. I just can’t imagine anything from, say, LORAH, Filth Pig etc to sound good with the new lineup. I’d venture to say that any Minstry song that doesn’t fit into the boring “guitar rock” cliche will sound like crap if they even attempt to play it .
And on top of that, no Paul Raven. [:(]
My hopes (however small they were) about this tour being even the slightest bight worthwhile are diminishing exponentially the more I contemplate it. If only Al hadn’t burned so many bridges and was still friendly with Barker, Connelly, Rieflin etc. this could have been a fun last hurrah instead of the Al and Sin guitar rock wankfest it’s bound to be. Sigh…
I think there may be a few gems in the setlist, got to give al some credit. I wouldn’t expect much or anything from DSOTS or Twitch. But I can see this lineup (hopefully) bringing back stuff like The Fall, The Missing, etc. If the set is supposed to be as long as they’re saying, they can’t just go all out bush, you know? I think there’ll be a song, or two or three that’ll be worth talking about. Quality-wise is a different story altogether. Part of me is hoping for We Believe, since it was played in 03.
I was considering going to either a new orleans show (if one), or a chicago show. I’m going to wait until a proper setlist comes around though, but by then, the chicago could sell out? I doubt it, but who knows?
Well. Ministry’s had how many different lineups over the years? Hasn’t stopped anyone from going, has it? If you like the material and want to go - then go. I saw them last tour and it was more noise than actual music, but that’s another lineup altogether. I’m sure there were skeptics when rieflin and saccia left around filth pig. Point is - they’ve had different lineups and it’s always been the same. As least, in my opinion. I’m sure whoever they got can play stigmata (not like it’s difficult), or burning inside, or even the fall. Anybody can play those. Granted there’s no one who has any real seniority there anymore, but that doesn’t mean they can’t pull off the songs and such.
I still go, but the shows have become painfully louder, and less enjoyable. I liked the '03 tour a lot, partially because of the set list, and partially because our seats were almost to the side of the stage, just far enough from the speakers that we weren’t being deafened with guitar volume. I didn’t like the Filth Pig tour, DSOTS was loud and forgettable, and HOTM was good, but way too loud (of course, the venue is somewhat to blame, as the acoustics are really bad at Marquee Theatre), and RGB was loud and unenjoyable as well (I enjoyed RevCo more…the songs weren’t completely drowned out by guitars).
The last Ministry show that I consider a ‘classic’ was the Ventura show in '90. 17 years ago. I still go because I like this band, and always hold out hope for a surprise in the set list. Unlike The Cure or Skinny Puppy, Ministry doesn’t break out the occasional obscure track. If “Deity” is considered obscure, then I don’t know what to say. ‘Obscure’ for this tour would mean they play the title track off of LORAH, which I have a feeling they’ll play, only because of Al suggesting it for airplay on that Australian radio interview. “We Believe” might be possible, only because they played it in '03.
Like I’ve said before, play either Burning Inside, Breathe, Where You At Now, or something unusual off of LORAH, and I’ll be happy. I don’t even kid myself that Al would touch his DIY Wax Trax material. At this point, the odd song off of Filth Pig or Dark Side would be a welcome change.
If we didn’t have such a stellar reputation over at PA, our feedback would probably have a chance of making it into the Ministry suggestion box.
I think it’s even more slavish for an artist “to cater to the crowd” by playing his golden oldies.
Think about it. You’ve played those old sounds thousands of times.
You think he’s going to play “revenge” when that was a millions miles away musically/conceptually from what he is now?
Possibly the only reason a seasoned artist cares about doing a new tour is to perform what he is into musically now.
To have a an old reunion tour, and perform stuff he really doesn’t want to just because it’s more popular and “accessible” would make a pretty stiff performance.
One thing I noticed in the last two tours is Al had more energy, and the show rocked HARD. The setlists seemed to have some continuity and freshness.
Those things I wouldn’t expect if he felt, “Shit another ‘Stigmata’,” or “Do I really have to think of performing ‘Nursing Home’?”
What gets old are these reunion tours of has-been groups doing the old classics–even with an obscure song from an old album.
certainly I can say the last two albums aren’t really my tastes. But when Al played some of his new stuff, it sort of coalesced into the rest of the songs.
HOB chicago is gay. i wish they’d play two nights at the metro or something.
it’s very cramped, impossible to find any breathing room, the floor is too small, there are way to many yellow lines you can’t stand on one side of, parking is ridiculous, you NEED and id to enter, and the merch is always more expensive than other dates on the same tour.
HOB chicago is gay. i wish they’d play two nights at the metro or something.
it’s very cramped, impossible to find any breathing room, the floor is too small, there are way to many yellow lines you can’t stand on one side of, parking is ridiculous, you NEED and id to enter, and the merch is always more expensive than other dates on the same tour.
It was loud, but not the loudest. My car is louder and CLEANER. I thought the SQ of that venue was Fine.
In minneapolis we have a LARGE trash can called the “targe center” THAT is horrible!
There have been much worse venues.
I was infront of themain speakers in a encore of Paul Barker “the Fall” in LA’sPalladium. The bass just vibrated my brain and every loose organ in my body.
I thought the Chicago HoB venue did the latest material justice. The drums pounded. There wasno tinny, trashy vocalsor guitars (i’m writing on a speaker/monitor now so the spelling is off).
I have never heard a bad-SQ sounding Ministry show.
probably the best is Scarecrow in my '63 riviera with a few hundreds of lbs od mass damping, 500 wattts of class D for the subs 300 watts (tubes!!) for the mids and 100 watts Class A for the tweeters
I I’d venture to say that any Minstry song that doesn’t fit into the boring “guitar rock” cliche will sound like crap if they even attempt to play it .
And on top of that, no Paul Raven. [:(]
All of Ministry’s live classic’s are “guitar rock” ya clown.
As for Paul Raven not being there…what the fuck do you care? If i remember rightly you think the albums (not to mention the tours) he’s been involved with are SHITE!!!
Like it or not Ministry is a rock’n’roll band. They make rock’n’roll music.
Yes, and that’s the problem now isn’t it. At one time they were something more than just another lame rock band, something special. Now they do lame covers of classic rock songs and think it’s witty to name their albums around bad puns on classic rock. Feh!
Oh, and I’m pretty sure maggot is spelled with an “O” and not an “I”. But I suppose it sounds cooler and edgier to misspell things just like great innovative bands such as Korn, Linkin Park, StainD and so forth. Truly riveting on a creative level I must say! But I digress… one things for certain though, maggots do not have teeth.
Any other mental midgets want to step to the plate?
What are you talking about! Ministry’s coolest album ever was a classic rock pun “Dark Side Of The Spoon”!
That album is Ministry’s PHATTEST most BADASS work ever!!! Tracks like Nursing Home and Eureka Pile not to mention the superb Supermanic Soul were heavy as fuck pile-drivers! Not even Mr Wonderful could deliever pile-drivers that DEVASTATING!!!
I agree with you wholeheartedly about DSOTS, however they really should have stopped with the rock puns after one album, just like they should have stopped with one anti-Bush album. Both the Bush themes and puns just seem like bad jokes these days.