Ministry, Gary Numan and Front Line Assembly kick of their US tour in grand style!

San Francisco The Warfield 27^th February 2024

The proposed tour of the US /Canada by Ministry, KMFDM and Front Line Assembly was arranged originally in 2020 just as the world went in to lockdowns because of the covid pandemic. Then some 18 months later it was thought that Helmet would take the place of KMFDM but as the say, the best laid plans….So finally in February 2024 the tour goes ahead with Gary Numan joining the bill instead of Helmet and I was lucky enough to be present at the first gig of a tour that will run until early April.

Front Line Assembly are the first to take the stage and right from the off with set opener, Vigilante we can see that this Californian crowd are in for a treat. The first thing that dawns on me is how heavy electronic music can be. If I could describe tonight’s set it would be intense. No big crowd sing-a-longs or mad mosh pits but the band go through their set with tracks like Deadened and Mindphaser. Bill Leeb and Rhys Furber have a more streamlined Front Line Assembly sound these days and again, it is the intensity of the performance that strikes me when watching them. I was lucky enough to be able to speak to the band on the night and we discussed our hopes that they will be able to tour the UK again (it has been too long!) Millenium is their final song and they leave the stage all too quickly.

Gary Numan takes to the stage next and he is absolutely brilliant. It is Numan who was the first to use machines to create a dark and intense sound that influence the likes of Nine Inch Nails, PWEI or even Atari Teenage Riot but what is most compelling is the fact that Numan has been able to grow and develop his own art, seemingly getting darker with each new record. Everything Comes Down opens the set and with tracks like The Chosen or Pure, Numan shows us his sound is so much darker than when he broke on to the scene in the late 70’s with Tubeway Army. The UK will see Gary Numan tour the Replicas/The Pleasure Principle albums in the Summer but what I really love about this show is that it is not a crowd waiting to hear Are Friends Electric? or some sort of greatest hits set but heavy versions of tracks such as Haunted or Pray For The Pain You Serve that have them in absolute delight!

Gary Numan doesn’t ignore the tracks such as Cars and it does sound wonderful when he plays it towards the end of the set but I have to say that My Name Is Ruin and set closer A Prayer For The Unborn sound wonderful and a lot of that is to do with Numan’s wonderfully Theatrical delivery backed up by a great band and I advise you to catch the tour of the UK which starts in Norwich on the 19^th May, you will not regret it!

HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES is the new album from Ministry and it is their 16^th release in a career that has had some incredible ups and, let’s be honest, some heart breaking downs. All the way back to their debut album in 1983 (With Sympathy) the band have pushed boundaries and are a constantly evolving beast and  let’s hope there are a few years and indeed albums yet to come.

Essentially tonight’s set is split into two parts with songs from the new album taking centre stage for the first half, in fact there are three songs , set opener B.D.E., Just Stop Oil and New Religion all receiving their live debut tonight. Al Jourgensen prowls every inch of the stage whilst looking each member of the audience in the eye demanding as much as he possibly can from both audience and band. Goddam White Trash is the only song from the album that I have heard, and it sounds immense. It is followed by a real surprise. If there is one musician who is associated with the Bay Area it is Jello Biafra, the legendary singer from the Dead Kennedys and I am thrilled when he is introduced to sing Aaryan Embarrassment (another cracking track from the new album) and I feel rather blessed.

It is not only tracks from the new album which make this Californian crowd go completely insane as Ministry play Just One Fix, Stigmata and Thieves in succession and I am immediately transported back to the early 90’s and touring with Therapy? As a young lad in his late teens, discovering all those amazing new bands like the Jesus Lizard, Helmet, Quicksand and of course Ministry that would set me on a path that I am still on today!! When Jourgensen introduces the last song of the set to be Jesus Built My Hotrod……well if I go to a better gig in 2024 I will be very surprised.

We get an interesting encore, comprising of two covers, firstly Magazine’s  The Light Pours Out Of Me then a track called Ricky’s Hand by a band called Fad Gadget (thank goodness for the internet!!!) and the band leave the stage. I so hope that Ministry take this HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES Tour back to the UK because we Brit rockers deserve it but will we get Gary Numan, Front Line Assembly and Jello Biafra thrown in? Probably not so I am damned pleased that I had planned my holidays round this!!!