Ministry performed at Cruel World Festival Saturday night, May 11, 2024, to a massive crowd at Brookside at the Rose Bowl. Performing songs from their first two albums “With Sympathy” (1983) and “Twitch,” (1986), the show was legendary, and hugely exciting for any long-time Ministry fan as myself.
Reportedly, Al hated his debut album “With Sympathy” with a passion, as he stated that the label controlled most everything about it, telling him what to sing, how to look, etc. He later reportedly came to appreciate that he would not be where he is today without that album.
A great album that still holds up to this day, he performed some material from “With Sympathy” that was hugely exciting to hear after all those years. Even more exciting to me was hearing material from “Twitch,” an absolute masterpiece of early industrial rock that still today sounds so far ahead of its time.
Sober, solid, and professional, the band sounded outstanding. Al introduced some of the female performers on stage, christening them the Mininstrettes, which the crowd duly laughed at. “Give it up for them!” Al said. “They put up with us and all of our bullshit!”
I first heard of Ministry back in the day when I was young child watching MTV back when it used to mostly play music videos. This beautiful guy that looked cooler than anyone I had ever seen was singing this song called “Revenge,” and I was instantly hooked. Ministry, along with countless other punk and new wave bands I discovered at the time became the soundtrack to my life, and the image of my lifestyle.
I used to fall asleep at night for at least a year listening to “Twitch” nearly every night. It was an album I was obsessed with. There was nothing else like it; as hard, driving, complex, and beautiful.
“The Land of Rape and Honey” took things to a whole new level with “Stigmata” among more. It perfectly epitomized the sound and vibe of the anti-fascist skinhead and punk scene in those early days in Chicago. We all loved it.
When “The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste” came out, Al once again had outdone himself. Another sheer masterpiece of an album, it delivered a sonic fury and magnificence of power and angst never before quite seen in the music world. My friends and I were utterly blown away.
We packed into my friend’s tiny car, and headed in Chicago to see what was and still is one of the top 10 best live concerts of my life I have ever seen (out of thousands). Ministry put out a video for it “In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up.” I’m one of the kids climbing the 15-foot-tall chain link fence in front of the stage and diving into the crowd.
Ministry at Cruel World 2024 was like child’s play compared to back in the day, but that’s OK. Most of us have grown up, stopped trying to kill ourselves, and hopefully all become better people.
I’m incredibly thankful I got to see this great show, and even shoot the band–one of my all-time favorites.
The massive crowd during this daytime gig ranged from middle-aged old-school punks that today look like yuppies, to a cute 20 something emo girl who looked like she was being suffocated against the gate nearest the stage. Thankfully, she wasn’t. She just kept dropping her head down upside down over the fence. Are you OK? A girl in the photo pit asked her–beating me to the question. She popped her head back up. She was fine. Maybe she was just praying. After all–it is Ministry.
The website “Jesus is Savior dot com” states, “One of the most evil Rock ‘N’ Roll bands to ever form is a sicko demonic group called MINISTRY; started by Al Jourgensen in 1981. Jourgensen retired in 2008 after serving Satan for nearly 30 years.”
Al clearly is not retired and doesn’t worship the devil. At least if he does, he does not promote doing so publicly like some artists. He’s a self-declared Democrat. He debated Alex Jones once on his show. His pentagram necklace is to many, merely a pagan symbol of the duality and unity of man with nature, such as was used by Leonardo DaVinci. Inverted, it is merely to many others, and particularly to those who grew up in hypocritical, strict religious households–a mere sign of rebellion against tyrannical systems.
Al shot out a couple spit rockets on at least two occasions. The first time I was afraid it was headed my way. Thankfully, it stayed on the stage. Another moment saw him grabbing his microphone and holding it between his legs, shaking it at the crowd who were about 5 feet lower and 30 feet away with the all the barriers.
In front of the stage was a small cross filled with red roses that Al would at times halfway disappear behind. With Al’s pentagram necklace, and the cross, The Process Church of Final Judgement would surely be pleased.
Whereas earlier albums would see Al screaming and storming around on stage with a fury, this set saw him slowly walking around 10 to 15 feet in each direction. His other biggest moves were the occasional hand gestures. For most artists, it would have been too little. For the iconic Al, it was all just right. Ministry ended with their legendary club classic, (Every Day is) Halloween. A perfect end to a perfect show.
–Bruce Edwin
