Ministry / Gary Numan / Frontline Assembly

Ministry, Gary Numan and Frontline Assembly – The Agora, Cleveland, Ohio

Ministry – Agora Theatre, Cleveland, Ohio

Industrial heavy hitters, Ministry, joined by punk-rock turned synth-rock godfather, Gary Numan and electro-industrial band Front Line Assembly took over Cleveland’s Agora Theatre.

Ministry gets better and better every time I see them, and last Friday continues to prove that point. Currently out on their headline tour, they started the set with Alert Level and continued with four more songs off their latest the 2021 release, Moral Hygiene.

Al Jourgenson, with his command presence, had the crowd’s full attention. While debuting a new song Goddamn White Trash, off their upcoming release, security & Uncle Al noticed an overly rowdy fan down front of the stage. They stopped playing momentarily to address the situation, with Al commenting “chill, smoke a joint, take 10 seconds, he’s no threat… well that guy’s pretty much what we were singing about”. Then it came time to sprinkle in a few of the classics like NWO and Just One Fix. A quick glance around and one would noticed there was not a single person not fully involved. They surprisingly came back out for a one song encore, a cover of Fad Gadget’s song, Ricky’s Hand. As a treat, they invited Gary Numan join them on stage to play the cover.

I look forward to seeing what they bring to the stage on their upcoming tour with Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper this summer.

Alert Level
Good Trouble
Disinformation
Believe Me
Broken System
Goddamn White Trash
N.W.O.
Just One Fix
The Missing
Deity
Burning Inside
Stigmata
Ricky’s Hand {Fad Gadget cover} w/ Gary Numan

Gary Numan – Agora Theatre, Cleveland, Ohio

Euro synth-rock godfather, Gary Numan was a fantastic choice to join Ministry on tour. The crowd seemed just as excited to see Numan as they were to see the headliner, something that sometimes can be rare.

The nearly 60 minute set was non-stop full of energy. Those only familiar with his 1979 new wave radio hit, Cars, were delightfully shocked to discover how heavy industrial sounding he actually is. He is definitely worth catching live if given the opportunity, you will not be disappointed.

Intruder
Halo
Pure
Everything Comes Down to This
Metal
Here in the Black
Cars
Is This World Not Enough
Haunted
Love Hurt Bleed
The Chosen
My Name is Ruin
A Prayer for the Unborn

Frontline Assembly – Agora Theatre, Cleveland, Ohio

Canadian industrial band, Front Line Assembly started the evening off with lots of fog and dark moody lights mixed with bright strobes set the tone. The seven song setlist included a cover of Falco’s Rock Me Amadeus from their 2019 release, Wake Up The Coma.

For a band with such a big discography, sadly the set seemed to be over just as it started. They are heading out for a headlining tour this fall, and I can not wait to catching a longer set from them.