Ministry @ Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall – 2nd June 2008
It has been a long time since I have seen Ministry play. I can’t remember the exact date, but it was in the same venue, Paul Barker was still an integral member of the band, the Wulfrun was half full, and it was one of the darkest gigs I have ever attended. So when I heard that Ministry were embarking on their final tour, I was intrigued to see what these “Industrial Giants” would bring to the table. Ministry have been making albums since the early 1980’s, with Al Jourgensen at the helm, steering through the murky waters of electronic music avoiding commercial pop and creating a force that was darker and more aggressive, and causing them to be the forerunners in the Industrial movement.
Ministry’s gig starts unnecessarily early, while it is still light, the birds are singing and fans are still wandering down to the Wulfrun, but they intend to play a two hour set as a final gesture to their fans. Unfortunately, this meant that I missed the support band and Ministry’s entry on to the stage. However, when I get into the hall, Ministry are behind wire fencing, who knows whether this is to keep us out or them in, in front of a screen which constantly displayed controversial imagery and a lighting show that kept the technician’s fingers busy. There is limited space, partly due to the enormous amount of lighting and sound equipment the band have, and the heat and noise is tremendous with a sinister air descending throughout the place. Al Jourgensen takes centre stage with his trademark microphone stand, looking more like Ozzy, in a top hat and round sunglasses, than the ex drug-fuelled Buck Satan. The main bulk of the set is dedicated to Ministry’s trilogy of albums, opposing George W. Bush, ‘Houses of the Molé’, ‘Rio Grande Blood’, and ‘The Last Sucker’. For someone who tends to prefer their albums from the late 80’s and early 90’s, thirteen tracks from their latest offerings did get a little tedious after a while, as they just don’t have the anthemic feel that their earlier work has. Saying that though, ‘Wrong’ and ‘Lieslieslies’ were definitely high points, despite Al’s Ozzy-like hand clapping escapades. As a group of musicians, Ministry were incredibly tight, despite the late arrival of Tony Campos to replace the recently departed Paul Raven, and you couldn’t fault their musical performance whether the tracks appeal to you or not.
The encore lifts my spirits immensely. Ministry blast out four blistering tracks; starting with ‘So What’, ‘N.W.O’, ‘Just One Fix’ and the awesome ‘Thieves’. This is what Ministry are all about. The crowd at the front go mental and you get the feeling that this is why the majority of the audience are here. Ministry leave the stage to tremendous applause as people remember why they are the Godheads of the Industrial scene, but this glimmer of greatness is far too short. Instead of leaving on this high, Ministry feel the need to return to the stage and inflict two cover versions upon us; starting with ZZ Top’s ‘Just Got Paid’ followed by The Door’s classic ‘Roadhouse Blues’, a major faux pas in my opinion.
Just when it can’t get any worse, the band returns to the stage again to massacre Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World’. This all seems so uncalled for when they have such a vast back catalogue of their own music that the fans are desperate to see, for example ‘Stigmata’ or even ‘Jesus Built My Hotrod’. As I left the Wulfrun, I felt that the band had become a bit of a joke, (three encores!) and was glad they were calling it quits. However, seeing the horror on certain members of the audience’s faces, when they launched into ‘Wonderful World’, did give me a giggle and made me wonder whether Jourgensen was having the last laugh at our expense.
Review – Toni Woodward
Photos – Steve Gerrard (top) and Lee Allen