What a gathering at The Riviera Theatre for Chicago-based band, Ministry, celebrating the 30th anniversary of their album, The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste as well as the release of their 15th studio album, Moral Hygiene. Their “Industrial Strength Tour 22” is in full motion after being postponed during the pandemic. Corrosion of Conformity and The Melvins are on the lineup with Ministry on this 35 date US Tour.
Corrosion of Conformity started off the night in an already packed theater, lighting up the crowd with their song, “Bottom Feeder” off their album Wiseblood. They rocked out their hits with songs across all their albums, including “Vote with a Bullet” from their latest album, Blind. COC ended their amazing set with “Clean My Wounds” off their 1994 album, Deliverance.
Endora of Bewitched highlighted the stage next. As she was projected on the back wall of the Riviera Theater stage, Buzz Osborne stepped out to tune his guitar as the stage crew was setting up for The Melvins.
They kicked off their set with “The Kicking Machine” and just took the whole crowd on a ride with non-stop music with tracks from Houdini, Bullhead, and Stoner Witch. King Buzzo was commanding the stage throughout their set with his guitar magic, shredding through songs with his wizard-like presence. They ended their set with “Honey Bucket” and “The Bit” leaving everyone wanting more!
Already overwhelmed with an amazing night of music, the audience took a breath in anticipation for the headliner, Ministry!
The stage crew brought out the chain-linked fence that spanned across the front of the stage. A cross was placed at the center behind the fence, lighting up with its white and green light bulbs. The crowd’s roaring seemed amplified to the fullest as members of Ministry stepped out on stage. Al Jourgensen encountered such a boisterous welcome when he set foot on the stage that it brought a smile to his face. The band kicked off their set with “Breathe” off the celebrated album.
Oh, and there was a great moment for us photographers – Ministry had a special guest capturing images that night —> Randy Blythe, of Lamb of God! It was a pretty awesome night sharing time with him in the photo pit!
Ministry’s setlist featured tracks from The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste, Psalm 69, and The Land of Rape and Honey. They also gave the audience a glimpse of Moral Hygiene at the end of their setlist with the tracks “Alert Level” and “Good Trouble.” The night ended with their version of Iggy and the Stooges track, “Search and Destroy.”
This is definitely one of the best concerts of 2022, by far.
