Review/Photos: Ministry 3.2.24 The Showbox SoDo – Seattle

Words & Photos by Stephanie Williams

Supporting their newly released album HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES, Ministry played the second show of their tour to a sold-out crowd at Showbox SoDo in Seattle on Saturday March 2^nd with industrial acts Front Line Assembly and Gary Numan supporting.

This lineup is tightly woven and interconnected in the metal and industrial music scenes, and Front Line Assembly is no exception. Founded in 1989 and consisting of members Bill Leeb (from Skinny Puppy) and Rhys Fulber (who has collaborated with Fear Factory), Front Line Assembly played popular hits like “Deadened”, “Killing Grounds”, and “Mindphaser”.

Gary Numan, who was one of the pioneers of electronic music in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, (and influenced bands such Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, and the Prodigy), put the crowd right in their feels performing hits such as “My Name is Ruin”, “Cars”, and the chilling and almost painful “Haunted”.

Innovators of industrial rock and industrial metal, Ministry, closed the night introducing the crowd to five songs off HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES– “B.D.E”, “Just Stop Oil”, “Goddamn White Trash”, “Aryan Embarrassment” and “New Religion” which had just been released the day before their Seattle stop. Satisfying the first and second generation metalheads of the crowd they played older favorites such “N.W.O”, “Thieves”, and closed the show with “Jesus Built My Hotrod” before playing two encores including songs “Burning Inside” and “So What” and cover “Ricky’s Hand” by Fad Gadget. Joining Al Jourgensen for current frontline is Cesar Soto, Roy Mayorga (Hellyeah, Stone Sour, Soulfly) , Monte Pittman (Madonna, Prong) , John Bechdel (Prong, Fear Factory, Killing Joke) and Paul D’Amour (Tool).

For a city so rich and pivotal in rock and metal music history yet hard hit with Covid restrictions during the height of the Pandemic, Showbox SoDo proved that the Emerald City is resilient, and the Seattle music scene is alive and well. This tour lineup is sure to remind fans of the time before isolation and uncertainty.

Gallery +