One of the most diverse shows on the touring circuit is the Industrial Strength Tour with Ministry, The Melvins and Corrosion of Conformity. You have 3 bands who are considered pioneers in their respective musical genres. There was a little something for everyone you can say with industrial metal (Ministry), sludge/grunge metal (The Melvins) and stoner rock (Corrosion of Conformity), where these bands primarily are best known for.
Taking the stage first was Corrosion of Conformity (COC). Even though they played a 8 song 45 minute set, they certainly made a lasting impression on the audience. They took a different approach by opening with the instrumental “Bottom Feeder” off of 1996’s ‘Wiseblood’ disc. Led by guitarist/vocalist Pepper Keenan, the 3 piece outfit was on point throughout their set. Their setlist consisted of old time fan favorites like “Paranoid Opioid,” “Vote With a Bullett” and the classic “Clean my Wounds.” This was my first time catching the guys live. A fantastic set by this band and I’m hoping to see more of them again in the future.
Next up was The Melvins. Another 3 piece band, The Melvins been around since 1983. Led by eccentric guitarist and vocalist Buzz Osbourne, the band played for about an hour. Wearing a evil eye one piece outfit, Osbourne said very little and let the bands music do the talking for the most part. Osborne handled most of the vocals but bassist Steven McDonald handled vocals on the Red Kross cover “Charlie.” The band ended up playing 12 tracks and closed the set with “The Bit.”
Closing up the festivities for the night were legendary band Ministry. The band today consists of founding member Al Jourgensen on vocals, with Cesar Soto and Monte Pittman on guitars, Paul D’Amour on bass, Ray Mayorga on drums and John Bechdel on keys. The band stage setup is very reminiscent of their 1989 ‘Mind tour’ where they incorporated a fence at the forefront of the stage. The fence was there until they removed it for the encores. The band shined blue and yellow lights at the very beginning of their set when the band walked out to show their solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
The band opened up the set with “Breathe,” a song from 1989’s ‘The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste’ album. It was very loud but not distorted at all. Many kudos to the sound tech. Out of all the incarnations of Ministry, this could be the tightest unit musically that they ever had. When you have talented guitarists like Pittman and Soto on guitar, there are areas you can expand to. They didn’t explore and stuck within the continuity of the band making the set very tight as previously stated. The band concentrated on their back catalog for almost the entire set. Then during the encores, the band played three tracks off of their latest release ‘Moral Hygiene.’ It didn’t matter as the crowd reaction stayed the same throughout their performance. For me, I was glad to hear N.W.O.” as it took me back to days of watching Headbangers Ball on MTV in the early 1990’s as that song was on heavy rotation.
This was the 3rd scheduled date for the show due to the pandemic. The third time is the charm most people say. Well, in this case it certainly was.
Setlist:
Breathe
The Missing
Deity
Stigmata
Supernaut (Black Sabbath cover)
Don’t Stand in Line (Pailhead cover)
Man Should Surrender (Pailhead cover)
Burning Inside
N.W.O.
Just one Fix
Thieves
So What
Encore:
Alert Level
Good Trouble
Search & Destroy (Iggy and the Stooges cover)
We would like to thank Selena Fragassi from FR PR for the credentials to review the show.
