Ministry at the House of Blues Sunset (4/6/08)

I was curious what kind of crowd would show up on a Sunday night at the House of Blues Sunset. The parking prices had been sliced in half as well as the number of people strolling around Sunset Blvd. After seeing the bands two nights in a row, it took some extra effort to make the trek down to Hollywood. I was luckily rewarded with the best show of the three night stand.

Meshuggah




Meshuggah unfortunately experienced some technical problems during their set. It appeared that Tomas Haake (Drums) couldn't hear the rest of the band in his monitors which is crucial in a band like Meshuggah. The last two songs of the Meshuggah set were "Straws Pulled At Random" and "Future Breed Machine". "Straws Pulled At Random" is another drum clinic as Tomas's cymbals clattered with errant snare hits sporadically hitting while the guitars signaled impending doom. Marten Hagström would crouch down and pluck out the bridge portion of the song as he really need the extra leverage to reach his hand across the neck of his guitar. "Future Breed Machine" was written before they had eight string guitars but still manages to be one of the heaviest Meshuggah songs ever. Meshuggah would also pause for a few moments after starting the song to let the anticipation build. It was the perfect way to close their set every night. I can only hope Meshuggah comes back for their own headlining tour.

Ministry




I could sense that the crowd was different in comparison to the prior two nights of Ministry. I wasn't the only one as Al Jourgensen (Vocals/Guitars) excluded any "Guest list" comments from his usual concert banter. This particular show seemed sharper compared to the others and I could see the expression of satisfaction on Al's face when he walked off the stage and hugged Tommy Victor (Guitars).

The first encore of songs kicked the show into another gear as Ministry would play "So What" from their album The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste. Wayne Static (Vocals) from Static-X would come out and help Al sing the song while clutching his cheat sheet. The second night was probably the best rendition of the song as Wayne worked in his characteristic barks to the song.

The next surprise was Burton Bell from Fear Factory would come out and sing "N.W.O." through Al's distorted vocal microphone stand. As a big fan of Fear Factory back in the day, I couldn't have been more excited as Burton simply devastated with his vocals. Al was busy rocking out with his Schecter Coffin case guitar during the song adding background vocals sporadically.

The recorded screams from "Just One Fix" howled as Burton continued to supply his trademark growl with the pit spinning at maximum velocity. I started to have flashbacks of my first Ministry concert back in 1992. The energy and atmosphere was exponentially elevated as the crowd enthusiastically sang along to the songs. The "old school" encore was capped with "Thieves" augmented with flashing strobes to terrorize your eyes. A fan in the crowd held up an old "Jesus Built My Hotrod" t-shirt to which Al remarked "Gibby isn't here. Maybe in New York".

The second encore was a batch of covers selected from Ministry's Cover Up album. Burton Bell stuck around to help play harmonica through a bullhorn for "Roadhouse Blues". "Just Got Paid" was Al's tribute to ZZ top as he sliced into some evil screaming harmonics on his guitar. "Under My Thumb" had Al switch to an acoustic guitar while managing to make the song stylistically fit within the context of Ministry. I still have my doubts that this will be the last Ministry tour, but at least I can say I caught all three Los Angeles shows.

Ministry Setlist for the House of Blues Sunset for all three nights.
"Let's Go"
"The Dick Song"
"Watch Yourself"
"Life is Good"
"The Last Sucker"
"No W"
"Waiting"
"Worthless"
"Wrong"
"Rio Grande Blood"
"Senor Peligro"
"LiesLiesLies"
"Khyber Pass"
"So What" with Wayne Static from Static-X
"NWO" with Burton C. Bell from Fear Factory for the rest of the songs
"Just One Fix"
"Thieves"
"Roadhouse Blues"
"Just Got Paid"
"Under My Thumb"

Ministry at the House of Blues Sunset (4/5/08)

My ears were still ringing as I walked into the House of Blues Sunset for round 2 of Ministry , Meshuggah and Hemlock. The Ministry show on Saturday was sold out and I expected a higher degree of chaos. The chaos would ensue when Ministry went into their first encore.

I guess I should give Hemlock points for trying but it is impossible to open for Meshuggah. Chad Davis (Bass/Vocals) at one point asked the crowd if anyone had extra tickets to Universal Studios. I was embrassed for the band at this point.

Meshuggah



Did you get the impression that I really like Meshuggah in my prior review? As much as I marveled over the guitar sorcery of Fredrik Thordendal and Marten Hagström, I would like to introduce you to one of the premier drummers in metal. His name is Tomas Haake. Tomas had a huge double bass drum Sonor kit set up with rows of cymbals at his disposal. I could literally see small chunks of wood fly from his drumsticks and dance on his cymbals as he punished them for being within his reach. Tomas had his Hi-Hat on the right side with another cymbal directly above it to amplifly the clatter and noise. I dare Rock Band to place a Meshuggah song in the game. "Electric Red" from their album obZen ironically had the stage washed with red lights as the synchronized head banging of Marten, Fredrik and Dick Lövgren (Bass) contrasted Jens Kidsmen's icy stare out into the crowd. "Rational Gaze" was completely irrational with Fredrik's crying lead solo into a bizarre mixture of cymbal clashing and Jens's vocal shocks. Meshuggah have me shaking my head in disbelief everytime I see them.

Ministry




Ministry gave another solid performance that was superior to their Friday show as the packed house provided an extra energy boost for the band. This boost still didn't prevent Al Jourgensen from making the chippy remarks of "Were you on the guest list?" But to Al's credit, he didn't ask this quite as frequently compared to Friday. After a small batch of songs from The Last Sucker, Ministry delved into their album Houses of the Molé by thrashing away on "No W", "Worthless" and "Waiting". Tony Campos (Bass) had his custom Fernandes Bass brandished with a Static-X logo. John Bechdel (Keyboards) had a CME keyboard controller as he triggered various synth sounds and samples. I have to give credit to Aaron Rossi (Drums) for pounding on the drums for almost two hours at a neck breaking pace. Aaron didn't miss a beat during the three night stint. The encore was probably my favorite part of the show but a close second was the triple song attack from their album Rio Grande Blood. "Rio Grande Blood" was unrelenting as I found myself shaking my fist in the air singing along. "Senor Peligro" has Al's classic distorted vocals and screams as the band kept pace. "Lies Lies Lies" rounded out the trio with more distorted vocals as various band members would rattle the chain link fence. Tommy Victor usually finished up the song "Khyber Pass" by scraping his guitar along the chain link fence and letting his guitar hang precariously from the fence as the amps blared with feedback. The blast from the past would be the encore of older songs accompanied by a few special guests. I will highlight these songs and guests in my last installment of Ministry reviews.

Ministry at the House of Blues Sunset (4/4/08)

I originally planned to see Autechre at the Echoplex on Friday but my Meshuggah loving brother was in town therefore I was automatically enrolled in an ear piercing convention known as three nights of Ministry and Meshuggah. I wasn't complaining as one of my favorite concerts from back in the day was Ministry, Helmet, and Sepultura at the Universal Amphitheater in 1992. Since I attended all three nights, I will break up each review by covering sections of the setlist as they were the same for all three nights. All of the shows had variances that I will address in each review.

I missed Hemlock on the first night. It turns out I didn't miss too much as I will inform you in the later reviews.

Meshuggah



My brother can claim he discovered Tool back in the Opiate days but my claim to fame is finding Meshuggah just after the release of their mind bending masterpiece Chaosphere. The tour of Tool and Meshuggah back in 2001 was a dream come true for both my brother and I. Meshuggah needs to be experienced live in order to understand the surgical precision of the slicing guitars riffs as they disembowel the listener. Fredrik Thordendal and Marten Hagström use eight string Ibanez guitars that test the lower limits of a typical house speaker system. Meshuggah is touring behind their new album obZen that continues to shred the boundaries of thrash metal. "The Mouth Licking What You've Bled" kicked off their ferocious set with its unrelenting riffs and Jens Kidman's apocalyptic vocals. The funny thing about Meshuggah is watching the crowd try to pit to the music because it is so off kilter. This didn't prevent the audience from trying as the circle pit started to churn. "Bleed" from obZen is a technical marvel as the guitar riffs form slight waves as they chromatically rise and fall with the musical tide. "Perpetual Black Second" is a bass rumbling warhead that convulses and oozes as Jens barks at the audience. I thought I was cool with my Ibanez 7-string but I realize I now need an 8-string.

Ministry



I used to have a number of concert t-shirts from various bands but only a few ever broke the elusive one t-shirt per band rule. Ministry was one of those bands. The Mind Is A Terrible Thing to Taste was one of my first compact disc purchases as I remember ripping open the old school long box packaging. I will admit though I cheated and scoured the web for prior show song lists. I wasn't surprised that a majority of the more recent tracks were played as Ministry just released their "final" album The Last Sucker.

Al Jourgensen is the only constant in Ministry. Al's band has been through numerous changes in their line up but currently consist of Tommy Victor (Guitars) formerly of Prong, Tony Campos (Bass) of Static-X, John Bechdel (Keyboards), Aaron Rossi (Drums) and Sin Quirin (Guitars). I was hoping that original bassist Paul Barker might stop by for an appearance but it was not in the cards.

"Let's Go" was an appropriate industrial thrash metal opening to the almost two hour long set. Earplugs are mandatory for any Ministry concert as the show could potentially keep ringing in your ears for hours after the show. Tommy Victor handled the crushing riff of "Let's Go" easily as he chugged away on his custom Schecter guitar with a Prong logo at the 12th fret. Sin Quirin had a flying white V guitar screaming in tandem with Tommy's concrete riffs. "The Dick Song" has another sickening riff with high pitched squealing harmonics. "Watch Yourself" was prefaced by Al warning the audience of the potential dangers of Patriot Act. The new songs sounded fierce live as the band members rattled the chain link fence in front of them. Al had his trademark insane microphone stand decked with skulls and handles long before Jonathan Davis of Korn ordered a custom H.R. Giger microphone stand. The energy of this night was surpassed by Saturday's show but Al would frequently joke how most of the audience was probably on the guest list. The night had a few surprises that I will highlight in the future reviews.