Photo Gallery and Recap: Wax Trax! Records Industrial Accident Screening and Launch Party at House of Vans Chicago

Brassneck | April 16, 2019

Could there have been a more brilliant way to end Record Store Day than with an Industrial Accident?

The Wax Trax! documentary distills the history of Chicago’s seminal record label and store into an entertaining yarn about love, family, music, sex, drugs, rock & roll and how not to run a business, if you wish to remain solvent. Along the way, they also managed to invent the industrial rock genre. Hosted at the House of Vans location on the near West Side, the evening not only featured a screening of the film, but also included nostalgia-producing ephemera from the label’s past. Saturday’s festivities included a film screening, Q&A, and release party for the long-awaited Industrial Accident soundtrack.

And if that wasn’t enough, it included a live performance from Ministry, who were the tent pole band for the label. Specifically, lead singer Al Jourgensen who had his hand in so many side projects (including Revolting Cocks and 1000 Homo DJ’s) during the Wax Trax! golden era of the ’80s and ’90s, he’s almost a genre unto himself. The entirety of the evening felt like a high school reunion hosted on the Island of Misfit Toys, which seemed all too appropriate. After all, those who didn’t seem to belong anywhere somehow found each other in the Wax Trax! universe. Simply put, the end result was an incredibly special evening. Opening the ceremony were LA/NY goths Cold Cave, whose dark vibes would have fit in well with the original record label on Lincoln Avenue.

– Recap and photos by Curt Baran

Ministry, House of Vans, Chicago, 4/13/19 Setlist (via Slicingupeyeballs.com)

1. “The Missing”
2. “Deity”
3. “Stigmata”
4. “Jesus Built My Hotrod”
5. “Just One Fix”
6. “NWO”
7. “Thieves”
8. “Burning Inside” (with Chris Connelly)
9. “So What” (with Chris Connelly)

Encore:
10. “No Devotion” (Revolting Cocks cover with Chris Connelly)
11. “Supernaut” (Black Sabbath cover)
12. “The Land of Rape and Honey”
13. “(Every Day Is) Halloween” (Acoustic with Chris Connelly)