Ministry Bring The Industrial Strength Tour to FMH in Philly

Ministry brought The Industrial Strength Tour with support from Corrosion of Conformity and Melvins for a night of industrial rock and metal to the Franklin Music Hall in Philadelphia, PA on March 9, 2022

First up was Corrosion of Conformity or C.O.C., a heavy metal band from Raliegh, N.C. which has been around for an incredible 40 years!!  Pepper Keenan (guitar, vocals), Woody Weatherman (guitar, vocals), Mike Dean (bass, vocals) and John Green (drums) were on their game at The Franklin Music Hall and had the fans who showed up early fist pumping and singing along to some of their fan favorite songs like “Clean My Wounds,” and “Albatross.”

Setlist:

1. Paranoid Opioid
2. Shake Like You
3. Diablo Blvd.
4. The Door
5. Vote With a Bullet
6. Born Again for the Last Time
7. Albatross
8. Clean My Wounds

Second on this rock and metal bill were Melvins.  Entering the stage while the theme song to Sanford and Son played, the 3 piece band got right in to “The Kicking Machine” and “It’s Shoved.”  With almost no chatter between songs, frontman Buzz Osbourne, drummer Dale Crover and bassist Steven McDonald played an hour long set which featured the songs  “Hooch,” “Honey Bucket, ” “Billy Fish,” “Civilized Worm”  and finally “The Bit.”

Setlist:

1. The Kicking Machine
2. It’s Shoved
3. Anaconda
4. Queen
5. Charlie (Redd Kross cover)
6. Billy Fish
7. Civilized Worm
8. Never Say You’re Sorry
9. Evil New War God
10. Hooch
11. Honey Bucket
12. The Bit

Last but not least was the band everyone came to see.  Ministry brought back their iconic fence for this tour, which spans across the entire front of the stage. The fence probably prevents the members of the band from getting to the crowd more then it prevents the crowd from getting to them. Once the lights went out, the large LED screen behind the stage lit up with the colors of the Ukrainian flag with the words, “Ministry Stands with Ukraine”  as the Ukrainian national anthem played.

With the feel of the old school Ministry show, the band started the night with “Breathe” from The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste LP, which got the Philly faithful into an early frenzy.  Ministry continued to pour it on with “The Missing,” “Deity,” and “Stigmata” from the Land or Rape and Honey LP.  After “Supernaut,” a Black Sabbath Cover, Ministry played “Don’t Stand in Line” and “Man Should Surrender,” a couple of songs from Al Jourgensen’s collab with Ian MacKaye which was called  Pailhead.  They crushed all of the Ministry classic hits like “Stigmata,” “N.W.O.,” and “Just One Fix” to the raucous Philly parishioners.

For the final 3 songs, the fence was remove and the fans were able to get a clear look at Ministry’s current lineup which consists of keyboardist John Bechdel, drummer Roy Mayorga, guitarists Cesar Soto and Monte Pittman, bassist Paul D’Amour as well as vocalist Al Jourgensen.  The encore included a couple of songs from  2021’s Moral Hygiene LP and a cover of Iggy and the Stooges’ song “Search and Destroy.”

Setlist:

1. Breathe
2. The Missing
3. Deity
4. Stigmata
5. Supernaut (Black Sabbath cover)
6. Don’t Stand in Line (Pailhead cover)
7. Man Should Surrender (Pailhead cover)
8. Burning Inside
9. N.W.O.
10. Just One Fix
11. Thieves
12. So What

Encore:
1. Alert Level
2. Good Trouble
3. Search and Destroy

Ministry 2022 US Tour Dates w/ Melvins & Corrosion of Conformity:

03/11 – New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
03/12 – Montclair, NJ @ Wellmont Theater
03/13 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre
03/15 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
03/16 – Buffalo, NY @ Buffalo Riverworks
03/18 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
03/19 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
03/20 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
03/22 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
03/23 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
03/24 – New Orleans, LA @ Fillmore
03/26 – Dallas, TX @ Amplified Life
03/27 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s
03/28 – San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theater
03/29 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues
03/31 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera
04/01 – Cleveland, OH @ The Agora
04/02 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
04/03 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Hall
04/05 – St Paul, MN @ Palace
04/06 – Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland
04/07 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
04/09 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
04/10 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
04/12 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
04/13 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
04/14 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
04/16 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield
04/18 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo

Ministry

Melvins

Corrosion of Conformity