menna’s tree

so, last monday i FINALLY got to tick off a check box on the ol’ event list…

this finally happened!

it was rescheduled THREE times after this initial date. at first frontline assembly begat helmet. then KMFDM was switched to the melvins. and finally it just became ministry, the melvins, and corrosion of conformity. the latter used to be hard core thrash metal in the 80’s, so i was expecting that, forgetting that in the 90’s they got a new front man who turned them more towards a bluesy sound. but i’m getting a bit ahead of myself here.

between reschedule three and four they added some dates, including austin, which was previously not on the list. the original tour announcement just had dallas, houston, and SA, so i bought for the last one due to proximity and venue (i’d always wanted to see the inside of the aztec theater). but now they were, the night before the SA date, only thirty minutes from the house (half the distance). but it would mean leaving work early, and NOT seeing the spot in SA i wanted to see…plus, i had an actual hard paper ticket so trading out was a whole new (old?) ballgame so i stuck with what i had.

first, the venue – amazing! even better than i’d hoped, with friendly, professional staff and plenty of nearby reasonable (ten bucks) parking. a few pics:

i ended up upgrading my ticket due to what i called the “large marge” factor. as kramer pointed out, a couple girls i new might be extra medium by austin standards, but were extra small by san antonio standards. the girl with the seat next to mine was NOT. she kinda spilled over into my seat. so i was granted a front row mezzanine ticket for the discounted rate of $30 (vs $50) and had a much better view although i’m convinced this one of those places without a bad seat in the house!

the opener (corrosion of conformity) was, again, a thrash metal band in the 80’s that went more bluesy in the 90’s and i honestly could not (and still can not) name a single song title of anything they’ve done. i just remember seeing this logo scrawled on book covers in high school on the desks of hispanic kids with tight jeans and an endless parade of metal shirts:

then came the melvins – same line about not knowing (and still not knowing) a single title. but i gotta say this – they heavily influenced every loud successful band in the 90’s, and their singer was working in a grocery store in a small town in washington state and named the band after his annoying boss back in 1984 and they’re still going thirty eight years later so fuck all the folks like me that don’t like em. he’s never had a day job since and done well for himself, so good on him for living the dream. seriously.

and finally, uncle al and the boys took the stage.

the tour was, originally, a tour in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their 1989 album the mind is a terrible thing to taste. but was slated for 2020. thirty-ONE years later. i suppose you don’t do math good after so many years of hard drugs?

anywho, that was kinda their middle goodie. for most of us there were three ministry albums that were the peak of their career sonically and creatively, with everything else kinda trailing off in either direction from there – the land of rape and honey (1988), the mind is a terrible thing to taste (1989), and psalm 69 (the way to succeed and the way to suck eggs) (1992).

the tour was planned around the 30th anniversary of the second one, but happened on the 30th anniversary of the third one because…you know…rona. the set list was basically a greatest hits off those three albums, noticeably missing jesus built my hot rod which just ain’t the same if my boy gibby ain’t on vocals and he’s doing the family thing in brooklyn these days. but overall a killer show in a killer venue and i was even home before midnight on a school night – score!