MP3.com Live: Ministry takes a bow

In their final tour ever, Al Jourgensen and company roll through a blistering set of classics and, oddly, close it off with a batch of covers.

SAN FRANCISCO--They simply don't make 'em like Al Jourgensen anymore.

Over a couple of bottles of wine, a pack of cigarettes, and lots of laughs, the 49-year-old firebrand talked about the importance of his two dogs (Lemmy and Ozzy) in his life, his feeling that the impending direction of the country leaves him with less of a mission, his forthcoming retirement, and his current tour--his last ever.

Five hours later, admittedly feeling the effects of the countless bottles of red wine he consumed in that span, he was leading his incredible band through a devastatingly precise set at the Fillmore that will serve as the frosting on one brilliantly rebellious cake.

The nearly two-hour set featured tracks scattered throughout the band's 11 studio albums. Most featured Jourgensen's trademark: frenetic and bombastic industrial tracks over which he launches into diatribes about the current commander-in-chief, his father, the Catholic Church, and oil-incited wars.

Jourgensen stood behind a waist-high chain-link fence, a prop that hasn't graced a Ministry stage since the band's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour in 1989. In typical fashion, he gave blunt intros for most of the songs: "This is a song about the Patriot Act / It's a bunch of s***."

For both longtime fans and recent converts, it was the perfect way to say good-bye to one of the most undeniably inimitable characters in the history of rock music.

Almost.

The band is currently touring behind Cover Up, a collection of cover songs, and Jourgensen decided to conclude the show--his last-ever at the legendary Fillmore--with a bunch of covers: "Roadhouse Blues" by the Doors, "Just Got Paid Today," by ZZ Top, and the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb." All good songs, given the Ministry treatment, but a peculiar way to say good-bye.