Ministry and Death Grips – Brooklyn NY Steel, October 16th
You know we are living in strange times when the most reasonable voice in the room is an Industrial Metal band. That’s not a slam on Al Jourgesen of course, who’s earned a reputation over the last few decades as a sharp wit with a working class sensibility, but rather an insight into the knuckle draggers behind the wheel of the free world and the bed wetters who apologize for them.
With two giant inflatable “Trump Chickens” book ending the stage and a screen behind the band showing rapid fire dystopian images of George W Bush and our current Russian lackey, Ministry’s set often felt more like a political rally than a rock show, albeit more convincing and sincere than any Democratic National Convention in recent memory.
“There’s a Republican president again and we have a new album coming out”, quips Jourgensen after set opener ‘Let’s Go.’ “Funny how that works, right?” Chances are Ministry are preaching to their own choir with this type of show given that the probability of anyone in this Brooklyn crowd un ironically owning a copy of Joel Osteen’s ‘Your Best Life Now’ or ‘The Art Of The Deal’ is about exactly zero percent. The same might not be said for upcoming dates in Kansas City or Cleveland. Hopefully they can do more than just raise a few eyebrows.
The sound is un characteristically pristine as the Industrial pioneers pummel through a set front heavy with new material. The drums are punishing, the riffs are mocking and the vocals are screaming from a vacuum. Older fans will be disappointed by a complete lack of the under appreciated 80’s Goth synth work, but with a career spanning almost 40 years, pleasing everyone would be an impossible task. Besides, what’s the point of settling into the role of a nostalgia act when you’re not finished commenting on the world that surrounds you? They did however happily dig back into their early 90’s zenith with classics like, ‘Thieves’, ‘NWO’, ‘Psalms 69’ and set highlight ‘Just One Fix’.
Openers Death Grips nearly upstaged the headliners with a non stop 45 minute set of neck snapping beat drops and MC Ride’s stranglehold on the crowd. Like any artist worth their own salt, they also forced its audience to reflect on some important questions, such as:
Q: Are you too old to be excited about a laser show?
A: You’re not.
Q: Are you too old to be in the pit?
A: You are.
Q: Is the dude in front of you too old to be in the pit?
A: He’s not.
Q: Is the dude behind you?
A: Nope.
Q: Can you break out in time without aggravation and/or physical pain?
A: Not happenin’.
Q: Are you sad?
A: Sure, but it’s got nothing to do with this whole Pit thing.
When a much needed bathroom break was opportune, With Guitars left their brother alone to make small talk with a young lady whom inquired which act he was there to see. “Both”, he replied.
“Interesting”, she comments. “That’s rare.”
Before one would assume an engaging and friendly exchange could resume, a visibly inebriated boyfriend that could only be described as ‘Post Douche Goth’ makes a jarring entrance and launches into a confusing tirade about how how terrible Death Grips were. This would’ve been a perfect opportunity to politely remind him that angry people stopped using acid by the end of the 90’s and maybe offer him a calendar, but Ministry then kicked into their first encore. The opening licks of Devo’s ‘Gates of Steel’ called us all back into the venue and all is once again right in the world.
Ministry and Death Grips are a perfect bill that challenges separate generations to adjust to different sonic expressions of rebellion.
No one likes to be told what to do, but it takes a sharp intellect to know when to submit or fight back. It helps when there’s a master you can respect. One thing’s for certain; a middle finger is timeless in all its forms. It also makes for a hell of a show. 8.8/10
Ben Stephanus
Death Grips live photo by Aaron Stephanus