Concert Review: Ministry (Ritz Raleigh)

Have you ever been to a concert that's so loud and so intense that your teeth hurt? That's what a show by industrial inovators Ministry is like. On March 18th, Ministry slammed its Industrial Strength Tour into the Ritz in Raleigh.



After skull-crushing opening sets from Corrosion Of Conformity and Melvins, Ministry took the stage to "Breathe" from 1989's The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste. Frontman Al Jourgensen appeared from behind a cross-shaped pulpit, standing in front of a giant screen that displayed video and text throughout the entire show, while he and the entire band perfomred behind a chain-link fence.



The current incarnation of Ministry—guitarists Cesar Soto and Monte Pittman, bassist Paul D'Amour, drummer Roy Mayorga, and keyboardist John Bechdel—sounded great. The band plowed through Ministry classics like "Stigmata," "N.W.O.," and "Just One Fix," as well Jourgensen's side projects 1000 Homo DJs (Black Sabbath's "Supernaut") and Pailhead ("Don't Stand In Line" and "Man Should Surrender").



If the Industrial Strength Tour (or any Ministry show, for that matter) comes to a town near you, do yourself a favor and buy a ticket.