Live review: Pam and Mark Schaff
Photos: Pam and Mark Schaff
After Ministry released the controversial album ‘Amerikkkant’ earlier this year. It was a no-brainer that when they hit the road it would be a not to miss a show. We got our tickets for this one the day they went on sale and have patiently waited until April 22nd for this one to come to town. This one sold out fairly quickly glad we got them early.
The God Bombs
https://www.facebook.com/thegodbombs/
First up would be a band from New York City called The God Bombs. We were not familiar with these guys, but they did not disappoint us in the 30-minute set. Having this raw goth/emo sound, they made some new fans of the fairly large early audience that was already packing in the Town Ballroom. The three-piece played some energetic tunes and finished up the night with a Cure cover. Band members are Justin Symbol, Jabbath Roa, and Edrick Supervi. Their debut EP ‘Hex’ came out in March, you should check it out.
Chelsea Wolfe
Next up was Chelsea Wolfe, someone we’ve been wanting to see for a while, and she definitely did not disappoint the sold-out crowd that had now pretty much packed the house. Her Gothic/Doom rock can send chills down your spine with the amazing low parts that transform to thunderous guitar riffs in an instant. Chelsea has one of those beautifully haunting voices that can make your hairs stand on end. The dim lights with white beams chasing around the darkness, that went along with the pounding drums and bass, set a mood or tone for the entire set that had the crowd mesmerized on the stage. Chelsea has had her music featured on television commercials as well as in television series like ‘Game Of Thrones’ and ‘Fear The Walking Dead’. They played nine songs in all of the last four full-length albums, four of which were off the latest ‘Hiss Spun’ that came out in 2017. She finished the night with the ominous song ‘Scrape’ and her performance was nothing less than epic for the crowd that got to witness it. Chelsea’s music can only be described as the perfect music to sit in the dark all alone while getting this feeling yours in the middle of a horror flick. Spooky, eerie and ominous, but great to listen to. We look forward to the next opportunity we get to see Chelsea Wolfe perform, and if you have a chance to see her, you should waste no time doing so.
Setlist
Carrion Flowers
Spun
Hex
Demons
After The Fall
Dragged Out
16 Psyche
Feral Love
Scrape
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sb5TszDqYE
Ministry
As Ministry prepared to take the stage, prep was being done that set the tone for the rest of the night. It was time to beat up on the president for a while. Two giant inflatable “Trumpkins”, chickens made to have the likeness of Trump, were put up on each side of the stage. Also had a No Nazi sign in the middle of the chest on them as well. TV sets were scattered on the stage in stacks and lit up in various colors. Having released ‘Amerikkant’ in March, we knew they would be playing a lot of the new material that incorporated Trump into the live show. And it took no longer than the first few seconds for Trump to make an appearance on the big screen behind the stage with the beginning of the ‘Twilight Zone’ song from the new album. Trump touting his trademark phrase of Make America Great Again, which turns to Make America Stupid Again, before the guitar riffs kick in for the start of the song. “Victims Of A Clown’ continues the ripping of the President with guest vocalist Burton C. Bell of Fear factory on stage. Tony Campos (bass), Cesar Soto (guitar) and Sin Quirin (guitar) roll through songs ‘Punch In The Face’, ‘Senior Peligro’ and ‘LiesLiesLies’ with thundering bass and hammering riffs. The crowd grows increasingly energetic. Getting to ‘We’re Tired Of It’ Burton C. Bell returns to the stage for the spoken word portion of ‘Wargasm’ Throughout the night, Al Jourgensen has been going side to side to give the Trumpkins a good kick every now and then while playing guitar on some songs. The band sounds great and the fans are getting rowdy. DJ Swamp (Beck) has the turntables scratchin’ through the controversial song ‘Antifa’. Al steps up at this point and tells the crowd that it’s time to dial the clock back twenty plus years and play some older political songs and they rip into the song ‘Just One Fix’. This is when the crowd went to the next level. Crowd surfing, moshing, it was all out war through the next several songs. The next was the fan favorite ‘N.W.O.’. ‘Thieves’ follows before ending the set with ‘So What’ and the crowd screaming “So Fucking What’ through the song. After a brief break, the band returns to the stage for one last tune in ‘Bad Blood’ before heading off for good and leaving the crowd to pick up the pieces and head home. This was one hell of a show and the band sounded tight and on top of their game. It was as crazy a show we’ve seen a crowd here at The Town Ballroom, and it shows the fans appreciated the great energy given off by the band during the show. They punished the crowd with 14 songs, and none of them are particularly short either and played for about an hour and a half. If you have a chance to see these guys, do so!
Setlist
Twilight Zone
Victims Of A Clown
Punch In The Face
Senor Peligro
LiesLiesLies
Rio Grande Blood
We’re Tired Of It
Wargasm
Antifa
Just One Fix
N.W.O.
Thieves
So What
Bad Blood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjEC49hTitI
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