sunday ministry (a show review)

well, i confused myself here…

…because the original title of this was “two outta three ain’t bad” and i’m not sure what i meant.

i used it as a place holder and, i guess, it was supposed to mean i knew two outta three of the acts? (which is true) but i only KNEW knew (i.e. have hung out with) uncle al, aka “alie” as he told me to call him, aka al jourgensen, ministry’s iconic front man. so i’m not sure where i was going with the title here.

the show was front line assembly, gary numan, and ministry. i was psyched for this because FLA was the original opener for the industrial strength tour, that i’ve mentioned got rescheduled four times (thanks, CoVid!) and the lineup changed each time, until it was completely different, save for ministry.

i have to admit i really missed the boat on these guys. i couldn’t have named a single song in their catalog. but they hit on all levels if you like your classic industrial music. the beat was driving, the grind was perfect, the visuals were good. i really feel like i’ve been missing out NOT listening to these guys for the last thirty something years, but that just means i have TONS of back catalog to check out, right? definitely an unexpected treasure!

then came gary numan. i LOVE the song “cars”. i have since i first heard it in the late 1980’s, which was almost a decade after it’s initial release. classic early synth pop anthem. as for the rest of his catalog? i knew ONE other song, and that wasn’t played. surprisingly “cars” was NOT the encore, it was done about half way through. so once that nugget was dropped i had nothing. not a damn thing. he’s aged wonderfully, and the set was great, but i couldn’t name a single song except that one. still enjoyable.

then came the act we all came for…

the set was an even split between the old and the new. the pic above was taken at the beginning of their song “god damn white trash” which is off their unreleased album due out this summer. the previous five tracks of the set were off their 2021 release “moral hygiene” which they hadn’t gotten to tour for because their 2020 tour for the 30th anniversary of “the mind is a terrible thing to taste” got pushed out via CoVid to where it instead coincided with the 30th anniversary for “psalm 69” so they did a great set of all things from those albums and before back in 2022 but it meant they never got to tour for “moral…”, so this was that.

but right before the track that pic came from al said, “if i can test your patience for one more song, then we’ll get into all that old shit you actually paid our ticket prices for…”

FINALLY, someone gets it and says it out loud! thanks for a great show, alie!