The long wait is finally over, one of the loudest nights of my life finally came. Ever since I saw Chelsea Wolfe back in October, I've been itching to see the performance once more, and only months later she announces this tour with industrial giants, Ministry. There was an opening band, but I only caught the last song and was not a fan. I believe their name was The God Bombs if anyone is interested, or is a fan of industrial bands.
Starting with Chelsea Wolfe, summing it up in just one word: Astounding. Smoke cloaked the stage under a blood red light while occult emblems appeared on the monitor above the stage and on both sides of the stage. Each member walked out and picked up their instruments, and then came Chelsea wearing a long black skirt and a white longsleeve shirt which had words written all over it, but I couldn't make out what they were. Her mic stand I also want to point out was covered in tattered black cloth and in the lighting almost looked like she pulled it out of a swamp.
The white noise settled, and all you hear is the heavy, muddy, crushing bass drop beginning the song, "Carrion Flowers". Now I gotta say, while it wasn't as destructive as hearing it at the Sinclair, this is still one of the heaviest songs to hear live. The moment I heard Chelsea's voice, I got goosebumps. It's amazing how she is able to replicate her incredible operatic voice exactly the way it is on record, but the experience of hearing it in person is haunting, as if she hypnotized you and stole your life force.
I was looking forward to hearing the song Vex. All I could think is who is going to do Aaron Turner's part. Remembering that Sara from Youth Code did it on the last tour, I thought maybe Uncle Al would be doing it, or if not him, perhaps Aaron would actually be there. Unfortunately neither of these happened, however Chelsea did the part herself and we got to witness a new version of the song.
Chelsea's movements on stage is something I brought up a lot in the last review. Once again she had very frail motion, but still made it look like so much more. during the song "Feral Love", she had both her hands free of her guitar, and actually took the mic of the stand. She stepped away from the center stage, still with fragile movement, but actually began moving with the music bending back and forth as if she was possessed.
Another outstanding performance from the Queen. Chelsea Wolfe never disappoints and is worth every once of the hype she receives.
Ministry I was questioning all night thinking, "How are they gonna top what Chelsea just did". Of course Ministry are known for their live setup and performance as well. Ministry had the mic stands made of bones and the center mic I believe was supposed to look like a motorcycle also made out of bones. The best thing about the setup: two giant inflatable chickens with Donnie "Dope 45" Trump's haircut, with a crossed out swastika on each side of the stage.
The room went dark and the monitor went on. A dj dressed in what looked like Christmas light all over and color changing neon glasses showed up, he was clearly controlling the sound. Anti- Donnie propaganda began playing on the monitor showing all of his stupid speeches, slowing down and remixing some of it, this basically is the intro track to the new album "Amerikkkant". Eventually it led into the next song on the album, "Twilight zone". The rest of the band came out wearing Guy Fawkes masks and top hats, and then appeared, Uncle Al. Now this was my first time seeing Ministry and they were LOUD. Al's screams were blaring but so clearly heard until they get muffled by the effects.
For the next song, they brought Burton C. Bell from Fear Factory. Burton looked at the crowd and said " Are you afraid of clowns?" and began the song "Victims of a Clown". Monitor began playing more anti Donnie clips and when the chorus hit, the lyrics appeared. They utilized the monitor best during "Punch in the Face" and showed good ol' Donnie get punched in the face by cartoon fists. Very entertaining.
Upon playing the song "LiesLiesLies", one of my favorites, Al screeched into a megaphone at the mic. You would expect with his passionate hatred for the government that screaming LiesLiesLies double amped would be deafening but the vocals effects muffled it in and out and sounded like radio static but fazing into a loud screech. After that he did the same style in the song "Rio Grande Blood".
Al got front and center and said "You know, I've been doing this shit a long long time. I'M TIRED OF IT, NOTHING'S CHANGED" then proceeded into the new song "I'm Tired of it". They brought Burton back out for a few new songs, but personally I wanted to hear all the classics. surely enought they did play the greats "N.W.O", "Thieves" and of course the Tony Hawk' Underground 2 jam, "Just One Fix". I'm sure you could guess what was on the monitor for these songs. With one song left, they ended with one more hit, "So What".
So I gotta say, Ministry went beyond my expectations, which were already big, and actually getting to see Chelsea Wolfe play before them was an incredible warm up to the set. An unusual combination added up to one mind blowing show. Astounding!
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