Last's night Ministry/Revolting Cocks concert was awesome, as expected. RevCo was especially good, in my opinion. They had Luc Van Acker joining them as a surprise guest. I'm not sure the audience knew who he was - he had gained a few pounds. But gish and I were excited. They played lots of older stuff, which I like somewhat better than their newest album. Highlights included "Beers, Steers, and Queers," "Do ya Think I'm Sexy", "Caliente (a Dark Entries cover)," "Stainless Steel Providers", and "Fire Engine." They were very energetic on stage, with the lead singer frequently talking with the audience. They even rounded up a bunch of girls and had them dance on stage and be attacked by Van Acker wearing a penis costume. The drummer was amazing and had some real flashy moves, even though he was hard to see. They had this super-hot chick on bass, too. Quite unexpectedly, Al even played guitar on all the songs.

Then came Ministry, and somehow the audience tripled in size. We were pretty close to the front of the stage, shoulder to shoulder with everyone else. Ministry has this crazy drum kit that has two kick drums on it. They also had a keyboard player, which they didn't have last time we saw them play.

They started off with songs from Rio Grande Blood, all very fast, which got the crowd excited. Gish immediately started freaking out - she claims she had a panic attack from being so closed in. I think she was afraid of getting knocked over. We weren't in the pit, but occassionally the stray human body would come flying towards us. I kept her from gettting jostled too much, though.

The most annoying part was actually the people who kept shoving through the crowd to get to their friends or the beer stand. And the crazy girl who kept grinding on me (by accident I assume) and whipping my face with her dreadlocks. Gross.

The band played lots of stuff off the new album and Houses of the Mole (but no "No W!"). Later on they played my favorites: "Just One Fix," "Thieves," and "N.W.O." After ending the set with the slow and heavy "Khyber Pass," they came out for an encore that included more classics: "So What," "Stigmata," and "Psalm 69." During "So What" some guy climbed the wire supporting the tent pole. He was a good 10-15 ft. up in the air. He made it down safely and was promptly tossed out into the alley by security.

Tommy Victor (formerly of Prong) and Paul Raven (from Killing Joke) were in attendance and were great to watch. Al, of course, is always entertaining. I couldn't see the drummer and keyboardist. The other guitarist, who I think may have been Mike Scaccia, played great but really didn't do anything on stage other than stand in the corner. Kinda dissappointing. I noticed that they missed a few notes in several songs as well, and that they played the melodies differently for some as well. That's really unusual for a Ministry show, but I doubt too many people noticed.

All in all, an excellent performance, which I give a 4 out of 5. Marks off for no video wall (it's usually full of cool stuff like Bush morphing into Hitler and such), people who shove their way through the audience, no "Breathe" or "Burning Inside," gish freaking out, the heat (it was outside), and a few missed notes.