Ghost Cult has brought back our special guest feature On The Road… where bands discuss their craziest stories ever. For the very first one, we are stoked to share a story from Mike Connors of Unendlich, all about Ministry.

 

Though I’ve been to plenty of shows that were intense (witnessing plenty of broken bones while suffering a couple of injuries myself) I would say a more recent show that still stands out to me as crazy is Ministry at the Fillmore in Silver Springs, MD back in 2015. Unfortunately, not for the intensity but for some of the absurdity that occurred. My buddy won some tickets to see Ministry and I’ve been a fan of the band since the 90s for their unique take on songwriting blended with metal and industrial elements. Never having seen them live I was looking forward to the show. I dug Al Jorgensen’s book as well and knew he didn’t fuck around when it came to drugs which I guess could have served as a warning of what I might be getting into.

I have no issue with bands practicing what they preach as long as the show doesn’t suffer. Sadly, the whole night starts out fucked with me getting in an accident thanks to a road work truck dropping one of those orange service gallon drums on my car on the way down there so got there a bit late. I don’t recall who was opening the show but got there as they were finishing and was able to get up front for Ministry.

The band takes the stage and I am looking forward to a mix of old and new tracks but sadly it turned out to be Ministry karaoke night. I assume Al was imbibing a lot backstage as the for the good part of the show he was staggering around the stage, not singing anything and you either heard backing tracks or other band members singing the part. When he did sing it was inaudible. At a couple of points during the set, he just sat on the drum riser drinking and smoking cigs. Things got worse when they performed “Just One Fix” where a stagehand gave him a guitar to play the lead part melody and he couldn’t even insert the jack in the guitar. The lead still ended up playing in the PA, and by the time he starts to play, the section of the song is done. As a fan, It was painful to watch. At one point during the show, me and my buddy both questioned if this was some sort of joke when a nearby woman who may have been hallucinating exclaimed: “This is happening!”. Yea, it was happening. A fucking train wreck before our eyes. I believe the tickets were 50 bucks as well. I would have been even more pissed if I had paid for them. . .

Lessons learned are to just stick to listening to Ministry on CD and drugs should never be taken to the extent that they are the show and one is missing the moment in front of you.

Unendlich’s new album Thanatophobia releases from Horror Pain Gore Death Records next month. You can Pre-order it at Bandcamp.