Earplugs required Wednesday night at Kemba Live as things will get LOUD. It’s pretty wild to think about how long these three acts have been together and while the lineups for Ministry and Corrosion of Conformity have been through multiple members, it’s entirely fair to say that all three are putting out strong material some 30+ years after forming.
For the Al Jourgensen-led Ministry, 1992 was the year that the industrial act went mainstream with Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and The Way to Suck Eggs and the appeal of singles “N.W.O.”, “Just One Fix” and “Jesus Built My Hotrod” earned the band a prime spot on the Lollapalooza tour that summer. And, it’s likely Jourgensen and band will commemorate the 30-year-anniversary by dipping into the album for Wednesday night’s setlist.
You can also expect to hear a healthy dose of songs from 2021’s Moral Hygiene, Ministry’s fifteenth album, which is yet another abrasive noise fest taking a hard-look at the world around us and providing plenty of criticism (as has always been the way with Jourgensen’s songs).
Like Ministry, the Melvins have been slaying ear drums for 35 years and in 2021 released two albums – the sludgey Working with God and, for the first time in the band’s existence, a two-disc acoustic album – if you can believe that! – called Five Legged Dog featuring reworkings of songs from the band’s career. I’ll never forget my first experience with the Melvins. They were opening for Mike Patton’s Tomahawk at the Newport Music Hall and I found them to be obnoxiously loud to the point of finding the farthest away corner I could in an attempt to escape the unrelenting noise. Fortunately, I’ve come around to the Melvins style of rock and have even had a chance to share that story with Dale who, much to my surprise, didn’t seem that offended.
There’s been many different eras of Corrosion of Conformity who formed in 1982 as a hardcore skate punk band. By the early ’90s, the metal influences were starting to appear more frequently in the band’s music – ’91’s Blind was the only album to feature lead singer Karl Agell but it set the band on a new trajectory and since ’94, with the release of Deliverance, C.O.C. has settled into a Southern Rock-meets-Stoner-Groove sound with original members Woody Wetherman (guitars) and Mike Dean (bass) and long-time singer/guitarist Pepper Keenan carrying on the legacy.
The Industrial Strength tour, scheduled to run through mid-April, kicks off in Columbus on Wednesday night. Doors open at 6pm and tickets are $39.50. Seriously, BRING EARPLUGS as it’s going to be one of the loudest shows in Columbus in 2022!
