Ministry at The Riviera Theater [REVIEW]
Review and photos by: Roman Sobus
After grinding to a abrupt halt before it even got rolling in 2021 due to pandemic concerns, Al Jourgensen and Ministry set their Industrial Strength Tour back in motion on March 6 in Baltimore and hit the stage at The Riviera Theater in Chicago last night. The line of fans wrapped around the corner waiting for the doors to open despite the cold temps, all hoping to stake out a good vantage point near the stage!
North Carolina metal rockers, Corrosion of Conformity opened the evening with the early set and were followed by Seattle’s, The Melvins who ran through a twelve song, energy packed set and they never fail to entertain. Both bands have been around for decades with solid followings respectively and complimented the lineup well, so it was no surprise the show was sold out.
Aptly named the Industrial Strength Tour, it is a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the band’s The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste album. It also follows the recent release of the Moral Hygiene release.
The band played almost their entire set from behind a chain link fence, reminiscent of Ministry’s In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up. The fence did little to keep Jourgensen, Guitarists Cesar Soto and Monte Pitman and bassist Paul D’Amour from interacting with the fans, pushing, tugging and occasionally reaching over, much to the delight to those up front. The crowd pulsed to the music, never really having enough space in the packed general admission floor to develop a moshpit, and was only interrupted by the occasional crowd surfer passing over.
The twelve song set drew on material from “The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste”(Breathe, Burning Inside, Thieves and So What) Several Pailhead cover as well as a cover of Black Sabbath’s Supernaught. The fencing came down for the three song encore comprised of selections from their latest Moral Hygiene release.
If this tour is coming to your part of the country, it is definitely not one you want to miss!
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 and Destroy (Iggy and The Stooges cover)
Tour Dates:
APR 1 FRI
Agora Theater & Ballroom @ 7:00pm
Corrosion of Conformity Melvins
Cleveland, OH, United States
APR 2 SAT
The Rave / Eagles Club @ 7:00pm
Corrosion of Conformity Melvins
Milwaukee, WI, United States
APR 3 SUN
Royal Oak Music Theatre @ 7:00pm
Melvins Corrosion of Conformity
Royal Oak, MI, United States
APR 5 TUE
Palace Theatre @ 7:00pm
Melvins Corrosion of Conformity
Saint Paul, MN, United States
APR 6 WED
Arvest Bank Theatre At the Midland @ 7:00pm
Melvins Corrosion of Conformity
Kansas City, MO, United States
APR 7 THU
Diamond Ballroom @ 7:00pm
Melvins Corrosion of Conformity
Oklahoma City, OK, United States
APR 9 SAT
Sunshine Theater @ 7:00pm
Melvins Corrosion of Conformity
Albuquerque, NM, United States
APR 10 SUN
Mission Ballroom @ 7:00pm
Melvins Corrosion of Conformity
Denver, CO, United States
APR 12 TUE
The Van Buren @ 7:00pm
Corrosion of Conformity Melvins
Phoenix, AZ, United States
APR 13 WED
House of Blues Anaheim @ 7:00pm
Corrosion of Conformity Melvins
Anaheim, CA, United States
APR 14 THU
House of Blues San Diego @ 7:00pm
Corrosion of Conformity Melvins
San Diego, CA, United States
APR 16 SAT
The Warfield @ 7:00pm
Corrosion of Conformity Melvins
San Francisco, CA, United States
APR 18 MON
The Showbox @ 7:00pm
Melvins Corrosion of Conformity
Seattle, WA, United States
MAY 20 FRI
Welcome to Rockville 2022 @ 7:00pm
Korn Breaking Benjamin Rise Against Papa Roach Seether Shinedown Foo Fighters Fuel Alexisonfire Skillet Megadeth Hatebreed Bush Sevendust Black Label Society Down In This Moment Parkway Drive John 5 Clutch New Years Day Five Finger Death Punch Sick of It All Agnostic Front Jane’s Addiction Halestorm Jerry Cantrell Nothing More Baroness Afterlife Shine The Smashing Pumpkins The Black Dahlia Murder In Flames Ill Niño Shaman’s Harvest Stick to Your Guns Kiss Plush The Struts The HU Guns N’ Roses Don Broco Poppy The Pretty Reckless Oxymorrons Tetrarch The Chats DIAMANTE Gemini Syndrome Against The Current Dirty Honey DED Welcome to Rockville Bones UK Radkey Bad Wolves Mood Ring Spirit Box Archetypes Collide NOVA TWINS Motor Sister Saint Asonia Death Tour The Mysterines Mammoth WVH Lilith Czar POORSTACY
Daytona Beach, FL, United States
JUN 24 FRI
Hellfest 2022 @ 7:00pm
DragonForce Goldfinger Megadeth Bad Religion Alice Cooper Millencolin Skinny Puppy Marduk Enslaved Decapitated Ihsahn Killing Joke Godflesh HEALTH Deeds of Flesh New Model Army Kreator Benighted Justin Atari Teenage RiotThe Baboon Show Gama Bomb Dirty Fonzy Disconnected Opium du Peuple Neige Morte Crisix Blues PillsSons Of O’Flaherty YOUTH CODE Pogo Car Crash Control As a New Revolt GAEREA Moonspell
Clisson, France
SEP 22 THU
Louder Than Life 2022 @ 7:00pm
Evanescence Nine Inch Nails Tenacious D New Years Day Apocalyptica Halestorm Nothing More Baroness Bring Me the Horizon Plush Don Broco Dorothy Oxymorrons Yungblud Highly Suspect The Dead Deads Spirit Box Superbloom Mothica Eva Under FireMaggie Lindemann Lilith CzarTaipei Houston
Louisville, KY, United States
SEP 24 SAT
Blossom Music Center @ 7:00pm
Nine Inch Nails Nitzer Ebb
Cuyahoga Falls, OH, United States
OCT 28 FRI
FZW @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Dortmund, Germany
OCT 29 SAT
Sinners Day 2022 @ 7:00pm
Heusden-zolder, Belgium
OCT 30 SUN
Poppodium 013 @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Tilburg, Netherlands
OCT 31 MON
Batschkapp @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
NOV 2 WED
O2 Shepherds Bush Empire @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
London, United Kingdom
NOV 3 THU
SWG3 @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Glasgow, United Kingdom
NOV 4 FRI
The National Stadium @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Dublin, Ireland
NOV 5 SAT
Damnation Festival 2022 @ 7:00pm
Converge Destruction Pig Destroyer Elder Despised Icon Toxic Holocaust Pallbearer
Manchester, United Kingdom
NOV 7 MON
Élysée Montmartre @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Paris, France
NOV 8 TUE
Antipode Mjc @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Rennes, France
NOV 9 WED
Santana 27 @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Bilbao, Spain
NOV 11 FRI
But @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Madrid, Spain
NOV 12 SAT
Sala Gamma @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Murcia, Spain
NOV 13 SUN
Razzmatazz @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Barcelona, Spain
NOV 14 MON
Transbordeur @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Villeurbanne, France
NOV 16 WED
Komplex 457 @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Zurich, Switzerland
NOV 17 THU
Muffathalle @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
München, Germany
NOV 18 FRI
Fabrique @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Milan, Italy
NOV 19 SAT
Kino Šiška @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Ljubljana, Slovenia
NOV 21 MON
Barba Negra @ 7:00pm
The 69 EyesWednesday 13
Budapest, Hungary
NOV 22 TUE
Forum Karlín @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Karlín, Czechia
NOV 23 WED
Progresja @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Warsaw, Poland
NOV 24 THU
Huxleys Neue Welt @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Berlin, Germany
NOV 26 SAT
Gruenspan @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Hamburg, Germany
NOV 27 SUN
Gimle @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Roskilde, Denmark
NOV 28 MON
Rockefeller Music Hall @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Oslo, Norway
NOV 29 TUE
Fållan @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Johanneshov, Sweden
DEC 1 THU
Helsinki Ice Hall @ 7:00pm
The 69 Eyes
Wednesday 13
Helsinki, Finland
Links:
Ministry:
Official: https://ministryband.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeAreMinistry
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeAreMinistry
Instagram: http://instagram.com/weareministry
Riviera Theatre:
Official: https://www.jamusa.com/riviera-theatre/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRivieraTheatre
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRivChicago
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therivierachicago/
Roman Sobus:
Official: https://www.romansobus.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/romansobusphotography
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romansobus/