Madison Theater 5 March 2022

Started by CoryCory, March 07, 2022, 05:39:01 AM

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CoryCory

I guess I needed a good day or two to process this one! Part of me did wonder why they didn't just do this gig at Bogart's but in a way it really worked out, so we'll get to that! Despite the layout of this place, they're actually both the same capacity!

Me and the gang would get to the Madison close to 6PM to which a slowly increasing crowd would pour into this venue and as we got our IDs and all that fun I noticed that right at the entrance of the venue, immediately to the left and right, was the merch. COC and Melvins to the left and Ministry to the right. Felt weirdly claustrophobic but it set the stage...

The Madison Theater itself was actually very nice! With an upper level for viewing, the Madison has three tiers of standing room for viewing and compared to the Cincinnati venue Bogart's, isn't as wide. The place was already half full when we got there and mulling around over beers, Corrosion of Conformity would take the stage at 7PM sharp, Mike Dean arriving first with a bass solo that shook us, transitioning into drummer John Green joining in, followed by guitarists Woody Weatherman and Pepper Keenan, rounding out the opener of "Bottom Feeder" going into "Paranoid Opioid", bringing some heavy rock into the evening!

Speaking personally this would be my second time seeing COC, weirdly the first in 2011 opening for Clutch and what was a revisit of the band's crossover era. This go around was a party and a revisit of some of the finest songs of their most famous era, with groovy rockers like Shake Like You and Diablo Blvd. in the mix! Woody Weatherman was all smiles rocking out and I couldn't help but feel that joy as well. Hearing a bit of chatter through the set, I did hear this guy stating he wanted to hear "Albatross" the most. COC had been playing with their setlist early on in this tour and after the classic "Vote With A Bullet", dude got his wish with the Deliverance classic. Finally, the band would close out with a jammed out epic version of "Clean My Wounds" in a rock solid forty-five minute opener.

While it wasn't Industrial, COC brought the strength in that opener and that strength would continue.

COC's Setlist - Bottom Feeder (El que come abajo), Paranoid Opioid, Shake Like You, Diablo Blvd., Vote With A Bullet, Albatross, Clean My Wounds

COC ended at 7:45 and the break-down transition into the next band would be surprisingly quick as The Melvins would be on at roughly 8:05, making their entrance to Sanford and Son! I've seen the Melvins play a lot over the years but it's been the long time since I've seen them as a support act, in fact since the first two times I ever saw them open for Down in 2009. With this space getting packed and a perchance for loudness, even a plucky, upbeat number like "The Kicking Machine" would feel like a gut punch in the best way possible. Melvins always deliver tonight and this evening was no exception, delivering old school and modern classics with the strength of sludge, the grime of grunge and the rock that pumped blood into our hearts.

King Buzzo smiled as he hammered out riff after riff, Steven McDonald brought his peppy energy on the bass and is still finding ways to twist and mutate old songs like "Queen" and "Civilized Worm", with his hands all over the neck of that bass! Dale Crover in particular was on fire with his drum work, sneaking in explosive drum bursts to transition songs and even getting in a Scott Steiner-esque kiss to the biceps between his little bursts at the end of "Evil New War God". Melvins were as confident as ever and the audience felt that be it the ones who came to see them or curious Ministry fans who were getting into it.

The setlist, barring new song "Never Say You're Sorry", was largely familiar territory but it's one thing to read a setlist or watch a YouTube video and it's another to see some of the classics play out in front of you. Really it didn't bother me and once the trio got to "Hooch" and "Honey Bucket" the crowd burst into a little pit as a precursor to the real rowdiness to come! If you're gonna get some Ohio metalheads riled up and you're not playing Night Goat, those two Houdini tunes will suffice! Finally, closing with The Bit, the band would thank everyone and leave one hell of a fifty minute set. No visuals, no flashiness, just a gut punch of rock that delivers every single time.

Melvins Setlist - The Kicking Machine, It's Shoved, Anaconda, Queen, Charlie, Billy Fish, Civilized Worm, Never Say You're Sorry, Evil New War God, Hooch, Honey Bucket, The Bit

Another quick transition and by this point the crowd had packed like sardines, for sure in the front section. Also the most hilarious bathroom break ever in guarding a stall for a blind man to use the bathroom packed full of people needing to piss and a sink that's needing a full-on combo swinging at the sensor just to work.

I can't speak for behind or above but in this little sweat box the free space began to dwindle as the cages and cross were set up. At 9:20 the lights would go down and a roar of the audience would swell as the band would take the stage, Al Jourgenson taking his jacket off as the band exploded into the appropriate "Breathe" as people began to jump, sway, mosh a little... What space to move your arms and legs got tighter as hundreds began to get a little rowdy to this punchy, ear-splitting industrial.

The legends of industrial dug into a trio of old-school numbers from "The Land of Rape and Honey" before delivering into a trio of deep cuts all recorded in the same session as "The Mind" in a cover of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut" (1000 Homo DJs) and two songs by Pailhead, a collaboration between Jourgenson and Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi). The band was delivering on all fronts, in particular drummer Roy Mayorga (Nausea, Amebix) tearing it up on the drums and new bassist Paul D'Amour (Tool) throwing his fist up to rile up the rowdy crowd and punching the low-end as he would at times just rub his face into the cage...

If one were by fate were at this gig and even a hint of claustrophobic they would have been overwhelmed in seconds, maybe even a bit crushed like ol' girl from Akira who got caught in the mass of Tetsuo in the film's climax. Once "Burning Inside" came on the crowd got a bit more familiar and rowdier and once "N.W.O." and "Just One Fix" followed it was ON. The pit came to us and there was no escape. We were knocked around, in stiff positions when we weren't getting knocked around and the merch table in it's precarious position really was a sign, like a warning sign. But the discomfort didn't faze us and we absolutely loved every minute of this industrial endurance test! Finally, the all-time classic "Thieves" got the whole crowd jumping and "So What" was a strong closer to the legacy of an all-time classic album in the world of industrial...

The crowd would clear up a bit as the lights brightened a little and scared the crowd a bit as the crew took the cages down. On a surface level the encore of new songs seems weird but when one sees the career-spanning montage of band photos, music video clips and tributes to the members who've passed (Paul Raven, John Davis, Mike Scaccia, Bill Rieflin, Joey Jordison) transition into the latest album popping up on the screen, it kind of makes sense. Ballsy for sure but most of the crowd was still there for it and the night was still young. New songs "Alert Level" lulled the crowd into a head-bobbing existential groove while "Good Trouble" and Stooges cover "Search and Destroy"  brought one last explosive heavy burst to close out.

And over by just a bit after 11PM. All of this packed into a compact and tight four hours, this well-oiled machine delivering a satisfying endurance test in the final hour. It's one thing seeing Ministry in a basketball arena opening for Slayer and doing the hits but seeing them even in a crowd of 1000 packed like maniacs was something truly remarkable, even for a band forty years in their career. Back home and in bed by 2AM and a smooth drive, jolted with the energy of rock and industrial with no bursts of fatigue at any point in that drive home through the endless seas of night.

This one's gonna leave me spoiled for the rest of the year and if you have a chance to see it, by all means do it.

Ministry Setlist - Breathe, The Missing, Diety, Stigmata, Supernaut, Don't Stand in Line, Man Should Surrender, Burning Inside, N.W.O, Just One Fix, Thieves, So What, Alert Level, Good Trouble, Search and Destroy

))))((((

Quote from: CoryCory on March 07, 2022, 05:39:01 AM
The setlist, barring new song "Never Say You're Sorry", was largely familiar territory but it's one thing to read a setlist or watch a YouTube video and it's another to see some of the classics play out in front of you.
I can imagine that is probably entirely true. Just a joy to see and hear them perform. Im pretty damn jealous of you. I need to get myself to a Melvins show one of these days.

vince furnier

ok. that Ministry setlist though. damn. i should go to this one.
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Chief Ten Beers

Awesome review!  I guess I'll have to stay until the end since Ministry is playing Search & Destroy. :shock:.
Please leave a review for Rollins if you get time. I'm on the fence about seeing him here in Buffalo, plus it's the night after Ministry.

Melvy