PITTSBURGH — The green-lit cross turned white, and the chain-link fence came down, finally, as Ministry began its encore Friday at Stage AE.
"Sorry kids, we needed a smoke break," Ministry singer Al Jourgensen joked before his industrial-metal band got back to the business of giving 700 or so Pittsburgh fans music to bounce to and hurl their bodies at.
The encore, at last, featured tracks from the searing new Ministry album, "Moral Hygiene," starting with "Alert Level," a rallying call against deceitful leaders. Sporting an unbuttoned black vest with matching forehead gear keeping his chest-length dreadlocks from his eyes, Jourgensen silently and in a slightly exaggerated manner mouthed the "How concerned are you?" pre-recorded vocal effect, gauging the audience's concerns with world affairs.
Next came another new battle cry, "Good Trouble," urging opposition to fascism with the lyrics "You feel defeated/You feel oppressed/Maybe it's needed/To start the unrest." As the large video screen depicted scenes of police violence, many in the audience looked a little unsure of how to react. But the Jourgensen-led cry of "We want our country back," at song's end, earned an ample cheer and collective fist-raise.
Political statements out of the way, Ministry concluded with a cover of Iggy Pop/The Stooges' "Search and Destroy," giving the iconic garage-punk song's street walking cheetah (with a heart full of napalm) protagonist some industrial swagger, courtesy of band members Cesar Soto and Monte Pittman (guitars), Paul D'Amour (bass), Roy Mayorga (drums) and John Bechdel (keys).
On just the second night of the tour, fans and Ministry members looked equally comfortable with the entire pre-encore set happening behind the chain-length fence that gave Jourgensen numerous opportunities to dramatically grab the galvanized steel with his fingerless gloves.
As Jourgensen had promised in his late-February interview with The Times, the performance emphasized Ministry's acclaimed 1989 album "The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste," including the set-launching "Breathe" and tracks like "Thieves," "Burning Inside" and an incendiary "So What" with both Jourgensen's vocal growl and Mayorga's beastly drumming in full glory.
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The percussion stood out, as on Mayorga's jackhammer beats that powered "Stigmata."
A bit of a triple-guitar attack appeared near the end of the slash-and-burn "N.W.O.," when Jourgensen added a few windmill swipes to the strings of the axe he hoisted.
The green-lit cross at one podium-like prop brought a dash of color.
Though the real visual treat came watching the mosh pit that hit its apex of enthusiasm during "Man Should Surrender."
A good 'n sludgy cover of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut," from a 1990 Jourgensen side project, kept heads a-bangin'.
Black Sabbath certainly influenced the concert's two veteran opening acts, Corrosion of Conformity (CoC) and Melvins.
CoC brought some stoner-rock boogie to the party, with Pepper Keenan an instantly likeable frontman.
"Deep or different? he queried the crowd, asking if they wanted a deep album cut or whatever else.
"Deep!" came the clear-cut majority response, setting up CoC to play "Born Again For The Last Time."
Closing in on 40 years as a band, Melvins blasted through an intense, wall-rattling set of sludge-metal, with vocalist-guitarist Buzz Osborne scowling and chaotically flipping his wild hair around. He didn't waste time on banter, letting his heavy riffs do all the work.
In speed and heft, Dale Crover brought drumming excellence. With the Melvins set nearly over, he lifted his drum sticks for what looked like one last time, letting them slip and fall from his fingers as if he was too exhausted to continue. Naw, that was an act, as he grabbed a fresh pair and bashed out one more furious round of drumming.
Scott Tady is the local Entertainment Reporter for The Beaver County Times and Ellwood City Ledger. He's easy to reach at stady@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @scotttady.