Do you read set lists before the show? Do you think that “farewell tour” is synonymous with “greatest hits?” If you answered “no’ followed by “yes”, then you, too, may have been surprised to find out that for their final Toronto gig on Sunday night, Chicago industrial overlords Ministry did not do away with their standard “no old shit” policy just for old time’s sake.
On stage, it sure looked like Ministry circa Lollapalooza ‘92: chain link fences separating band from crowd, customized cow skull mic stand awaiting arrival of main maniac Al Jourgensen. But from the opening number — actually a not-yet-released Revolting Cocks track called, quite ironically, “I’m not Gay” playing to a video of a spinning skull-shaped disco ball, which surely dispatched any straggling fans of muscular opening act Meshuggah — it was clear Uncle Al would Bush-whack his way through only their most recent records. Starting with “Let’s Go!”, opening salvo from the latest (and allegedly last) Ministry studio record The Last Sucker and working their way through 2004’s House of the Mole and 2006’s Rio Grande Blood, the 6-man band spent the first hour of their set on an all-out assault on the senses, from the trademark ear-splitting “jackhammer in a disco” sonics to the rapidfire news clip video collage starring G.W.B.
Fun stuff (especially trash-tastic stand-out “No Glory”) and fair enough, but there was an air of artifice that’s completely at odds with the unbridled chaos Ministry used to create — that whole “I’m 50 and I’m crazy!” posture is eerily close to Ozzy. Al may get genuinely revved up by his hatred for the Commander in Chief, and there’s something to be said for staying on point, but after about 10 new tunes with the same tempo, same tone and same topic, was it too much to ask to drop a few classics? We did eventually get more than “Just One Fix” of old hits (“NWO” and “Thieves” were also duly trotted out) but the second encore — complete with balloon drop!? — was a set of covers from the brand new album, Cover Up. And so, the band that claims to be saying “C U Latour” in 2008 begins and ends the set promoting new and future work. Makes you wonder, who is really the last sucker?