Saturday, May 06, 2006

Who is Ministry?

My lovely wife and I saw Helio Sequence at Walter's on Washington last night. We've been waiting for this show for months and finally...it happened. Beautiful, wondrous, heart stopping, mind-blowing, just shazam! The club was a little hole-in-the-wall tavern about 200 square feet in the Heights, and we met the band (2 members) afterwards. $10 to get in. We ate at a little trendy Italian food restaurant which was OK, but we did eat at Buca's earlier in the week. The drummer of Helio Sequence played on the last Modest Mouse album/tour, but Helio Sequence just blows away Modest Mouse. The music is totally different. Kind of like layered textural music. Three-dimensional, and the drummer rocks.

We drove by Verizon Wireless Theater last night on the way to Helio Sequence because Ministry was playing last night also. There was the usual dyed-black hair combat-boot wearing chains and zippers crowd. One shirt said Nihilism F*** Bush. As we drove around the venue I wondered if the people who like Ministry and dress the part realize they are flesh-and-blood cliches. Hmmm? I have a theory that these kids are angry with their parents and choose Ministry to rebel, all subconciously of course. Ministry's song Rio Grande Blood sounded just like the last album, they sampled and cut Bush's speeches to make him say stuff like "I am the great white Satan", "I want your money", etc. Then Jello Biafra guest vocals on the song Ass Clown claiming Congress is the real terrorists, and so on. So there is no logical reason to take Ministry seriously. Musically, they've done all they ever will. These poor kids who are so angry connect on an emotional level and the whole black chains and death thing seems contrived and...false. There is no truth in Minstry. These kids are lying to themselves and Ministry just makes money off of them. Ha! The great contradiction, being able to spout Socialism and cursing those supporting their capitalist ways. I'm glad we saw Helio Sequence.
I have to get off of my butt and start writing my songs.

7 Comments:

Blogger Thurbs said...

I guess Ministry is milking it for all it's worth nowadays. However, with Tommy Victor on guitar this tour, I wonder if he brings a little something extra to the table. I know a few YM in my ward who talk about Ministry, but when I ask them about it, they just talk about stuff from the Pslam 69 era. I don't think they understand the early early stuff or whatever Al is cranking out these days.

2:24 PM  
Blogger White Man Retarded said...

What got me into Ministry was Twitch. I like to play Twitch and No W back to back...the transition is weird. I have a theory Al J. was ridiculed for being homosexual and turned really hard to prove himself not. Hmmm? I still like Twitch, and I still like the 'sound' of current Ministry, but the lyrics are just so damn whiny.

5:06 PM  
Blogger elasticwaistbandlady said...

What would that be carrot jello? Air Supply or Kool and the Gang? Yeah patrick maybe you should give us an entry about Air Supply. They the shiznit!

9:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When I was growing up, my mother loved Air Supply and would watch their concert special on HBO. My mother died almost three years ago. About 1 1/2 years ago, I was really thinking about Air Supply (you know, nostalgia). Patrick came home from his friend's house a few days later with none other than Air Supply's Greatest Hits. I was delighted and we had a good laugh listening to it. Incredibly (almost shamefully) I'll admit I still knew almost all of the lyrics.

5:06 PM  
Blogger White Man Retarded said...

But so, the question remains: were they singing to each other? With their upturned collars, permed mullets, pretty boy blemishless faces? Hmmm? Air Supply is a euphimism.

6:27 PM  
Blogger White Man Retarded said...

Making blogs...out of nothin' at all (out of nothin')

6:27 PM  
Blogger elasticwaistbandlady said...

Mrs. Henry, there's no shame in being lost in love with the smooth musical stylings of Air Supply. Even the nights are better with a dose of their special kind of melodies that will ensure that you will never be all out of love.

See, I can write cheeseball stuff too. I could have been a huge hit in the 70's. I concur with carrot, nice to meet you Mrs. Henry!!! Hope that you become a daily blog contributor around here.

1:04 AM  

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