Industrial-metal pioneers Ministry returned to D.C. on Monday on their "Evil Doer" tour to support their latest album, "House of the Mole." Along with them at the 9:30 club were sleazy electro-rockers My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult and the pseudo-German industrial group Hanzel Und Greytl.
Hanzel Und Greytl took the stage first and put on an amazing set. Surprisingly, though, a majority of their set was composed of material from their previous release, "Uber Alles," instead of their latest album, "Sheissmessiah," released last Tuesday.
Next up was the classic My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. Coming fully equipped with video projections of vintage '60s porn clips, the band took the stage in full homoerotic force. Leading what appeared to be the Village People from Hell was Groovyman with his sleazy yet charismatic lyrics of sex, bondage, S&M and Satanism. The group went through such classics as "Kooler then Jesus" and "Sex on Wheels."
Finally, after a brief 30-minute set change after My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, the room went dark and the stage lit up. Walking out on stage wasn't Ministry, but a man wearing a suit and a rubber George W. Bush mask. The man crossed the stage as he if were politicking for votes. Behind him, the band set up and went into the first song, "NoW." Ministry mastermind Al Jourgensen took to the stage, only to beat up the fake president. In addition to the fake president, the stage was outlined in the bones of various desert critters from Ministry's home state of Texas.
It was clear that the theme of the night was to get rid of Bush. "Bush is from Texas," said Jourgensen, who sported anti-Bush propaganda. "That is where we live. We live behind enemy lines ... someone has to."
The first half of the night's set included songs mainly off "House of the Mole," which is a series of anthems dedicated a change of regime in the White House. Ministry also went on to dedicate songs to the rest of the Bush family, including the classic "NWO."
As the first portion of the three sets Ministry played came to a close, the band expanded its set to include some other less-political favorites, such as the heroin anthem "Just One Fix."
After treating the crowd to an initial 90-minute set, the band came out to do two encores. The first included its socially disturbing metal track "So What?" and a cover of Black Sabbath's "Supernaught." Finally, the band appeared one more time to finish out the night by playing an amazing version of its most famous single, "Jesus Built My Hotrod."
Ministry once again left a pleased crowd, and Tuesday will tell if there will be a pleased band.
