Ministry Delivers At The Ace of Spades in Sacramento
On Monday, March 26, 2018, Ministry took over the Ace of Spades in Sacramento and with a capacity crowd in hand, treated its faithful to a non-stop sonic attack of sheer energy and sound and food for thought with the songs of Ministry’s latest album AmeriKKKant, a highly politically charged album, which in many ways, is very much welcomed in these times of disarray in the present White House.
From an early hour, fans lined up a block down from the venue, since the street is being renovated, and slowly but surely, the quite eclectic looking crowd which ranged from teenagers to many 40 and 50 somethings and some even older, and from clean cut looking guys in blazers to the most goth looking characters, filled up the place.
With impeccable precision, the show began at the scheduled time of 7:30 pm with a highly energetic performance by New Yorkers, The God Bombs, who treated the very receptive crowd to a combination of electronic alternative metal with heavy beats and punk energy and even hints of hip-hop and some Spanish thrown in.
Local artist, Chelsea Wolfe, who was born in Roseville and grew up in Sacramento, took the stage at 8:20 and with her witchy looks, she seemed to have put a spell on the crowd as they looked mesmerized by her voice and the dense musical attack which consisted of heavy distorted chords and heavy beats of dark, black, drone metal; and of course, goth, which combined with her R&B, country and Scandinavian folk influenced singing, she satisfied most of those presents; although, at times, it did seem a little tedious to take, but all in all, she was well received.
Finally, at 9:30, the stage was ready for the god fathers of industrial metal, Ministry. The stage was set up with anti-Trump symbols such as two giant chickens on each side of the stage with Trump looking hair and anti-swastika signs on their bellies and as the band took the stage, a giant screen at the back of the stage showed videos mocking Trump and his propaganda machine.
Sin Quirin and Cesar Soto on guitars, Tony Campos on base, Derek Abrams on drums, John Bechdel on keyboards and DJ Swamp on the turn tables first appeared on the stage and the energy in the room exploded and when Al Jourgensen finally appeared, the roar of the crowd was deafening, which was a high mark to match as this was one very loud performance.
“Twilight Zone”, from the new album, opened the show and Al Jourgensen showcased his mastery of the harmonica as the band powered through the song. New songs, “Victims Of A Clown” and “TV 5/4 Chan” followed and before going into “Punch In The Face” from the Beer to Eternity album, Mr. Jourgensen thanked the crowd for being so receptive of the new material and promised the audience they would be rewarded for their patience with a “shitload” of old songs later, which is what they came to hear.
What had seemed like a relatively subdued crowd during the opening bands, it quickly became alive, even during the new material, the mosh pit developed in front of the stage and the body surfers began to soar through the crowd until they reached the edge of the stage and it got even wilder when guest singer Burton C. Bell from Fear Factory took over singing duties and got the crowd into a frenzy
Al Jourgensen didn’t seem as active on stage as he did in the past, but his band more than made up for it and sometimes it seemed to drown out Jourgensen’s voice, but he stood his ground and delivered, especially when he kept his promise of old songs like “Just One Fix”, “N.W.O” and “Thieves”.
Finally, the show ended with a raucous “So What” after which the band left the stage but came back for a 1 song encore of “Bad Blood”, although the crowd kept asking for more, Ministry did not come back to the stage, but everyone seemed content with a great night of hard, fast, dense and very loud industrial metal.
Complete Set List:
Twilight Zone
Victims of A Clown
TV 5/4 Chan
Punch In The Face
Señor Peligro
LiesLiesLies
Rio Grande Blood
We’re Tired of It
Wargasm
Antifa
Just One Fix
N.W.O.
Thieves
So What
Encore:
Bad Blood
The AmeriKKKant North American Tour continues through the following:
March 31 Union Hall, Edmonton, AB CANADA
APRIL
1 Palace Theatre, Calgary, AB CANADA
3 Wilma Theatre, Missoula, MT
5 Bourbon Theatre, Lincoln, NE
7 Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL
8 Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI
10 Bogart’s, Cincinnati, OH
11 20 Monroe Live, Grand Rapids, MI
12 Egyptian Room, Indianapolis, IN
14 Opera House, Toronto, ON CANADA
15 MTelus, Montreal, QC CANADA
17 Royale, Boston, MA
18 Aura, Portland, ME
19 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, NY
21 Wellmont Theatre, Montclair, NJ
22 Town Ballroom, Buffalo, NY
23 Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD
25 Center Stage, Atlanta, GA
26 Hard Rock Live, Orlando, FL
28 Levitation Festival, Austin, TX