Misael Ruiz
- Apr 19, 2022
- 3 min read

Ministry sells out the House of Blues

Industrial metal legends Ministry finally embarked on their 30th anniversary tour of their fourth album, The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste. The tour was originally supposed to happen in 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic happened and had to be postponed a couple of times. Now that things are slowly coming back to normal, it was time for the Industrial Strength tour to get underway. Support for the tour came from Melvins and Corrosion of Conformity. Fans were so excited for this show that it sold out not too long after tickets went on sale.

The lights went out and the sold out crowd shouted in excitement as the Melvins came out one by one and started their show with The Kicking Machine. The Melvins have a very sludgy sound to their music which also mixes grunge, rock and metal. Bassist Steven Shane McDonald was very energetic during the performance and would often jump on stage and strike poses. Melvins kept the energy to the show going as they played hits from throughout their discography as they played hits like Queen, Billy Fish and Never Say You're Sorry. The crowd was treated to a surprise when Ministry drummer Roy Mayorga came out to jam with the Melvins for two songs which were Hooch and Honey Bucket. Their set came to an end with The Bit. Melvins left the stage and made way for the headlining band of the night.

If you're into metal and haven't heard of Ministry and know at least one song, then your credibility as a metal head is questionable. They have been making music for 40 years now and deserve all the praise they get. As the stage was being set up, the main thing to notice was that the front of the stage was covered by a fence. Probably in reference and a throwback to the Burning Inside music video from the TMIATTTT album. A fitting choice. The lights went out once again and the super packed and sold out venue erupted into excitement as the members of Ministry made their way to the stage. Singer and founding member Al Jourgensen was the last one out and introduced the first song of the show which was Breathe from the TMIATTTT album. A perfect choice as it was the 30th anniversary of the album. The crowd wasted no time in going wild as mosh pits formed and crowd surfers started showing up. Ministry played plenty of hits including The Missing, Burning Inside and their Black Sabbath cover of Supernaut. Ministry brought out the deep cuts as they played two songs from Pailhead, a short-lived project involving Jourgensen and former Minor Threat frontman, Ian MacKaye. Those songs were Don't Stand in Line and Man Should Surrender. Now nearing the end of the show, Ministry brought out the big hits that made them legends in the industrial metal scene. Those industrial metal classics were N.W.O., Just One Fix and Thieves. The show had to sadly come to an end and so Ministry finished up their set with So What, then left the stage. The fence was removed and all seemed quiet. After a small break, the band members came back out. Jourgensen made note that they released their 15th album Moral Hygiene in 2021. For the encores, Ministry would play three songs from the new album. The first two were Alert Level and Good Trouble. Now for the real ending of the show, Ministry would play an Iggy Pop cover of Search and Destroy. For this occasion, Ministry brought out Billy Morrison who helped record the song on the album and is also currently the guitarist for Billy Idol. The crowd went wild with that cover. The show came to an end once again. The band members said their goodbyes and left the stage. It was good to have Ministry come back and hopefully it's not long before they come back again.