Christ! What a whirlwind couple of days! So Monday pm I finally got the word from Metal Hammer magazine in the UK that they had tied down a date this week for me to go hang out and shoot Ministry for a big feature...VEGAS...UGH! Not my favorite place to be at all. For those Brits amongst you it's like Blackpool on steroids...for those of you here in the US...IT'S SHITE! Did I mention that it's not my kind of town? They had the right idea for Vegas in resident Evil 3!!

So! 6am with backache and eyes like peeholes in the snow I'm in the air bound for the shimmering city of lights, tranny hookers and nocturnal everyone's. Cut to midday and I touch down rather heavily in Vegas...so heavily that the huge woman in front of me complains that the pilot hurt her "roids"...no kidding... She should eat more fiber!

Hop in a cab and skip over to the House of Blues located inside the massive and very smokey Mandalay Bay. Flash my laminate and make my way through to the Ministry dressing room where I'm greeted by a very sober Al Jourgensen along with Burton Bell and Syn Quirin. It's midday and Al's on the vino, very tired but sober! Egads!! They've just done six shows in a row and Al was bottled three times the night before and are playing behind their own portable chicken wire fencing on stage! I'm not making this up! I'm informed that they're all wiped out and don't want to go far to do photos...say...no further than the stage door type distance! I had scouted out a couple of locations inside the House of Blues but due to their less than accommodating policies I can shoot the guys basically nowhere that shows it's inside the House of Blues... I had no idea that the third Reich wrote their rule book but...okay!

Grab some shots of Al and the guys relaxing in the dressing room etc and his wife/manager Angie says he's gonna take a nap for a few hours. I ditch my gear and check in to my suite at the Mandalay bay, 28th floor with a view of the strip... The excess of this place is nuts. Order room service, re fuel, take a shower and head downstairs for a coffee and a wander around the lobby. The place is full of just about every demographic you can think. LOTS of Japanese folks chain smoking and constantly yanking the bandit machines, bachelor parties wasted at 1pm, old ho's on the pull and everything in between throwing their money away... Jeez!



6pm and I set up in a hallway where the bouncers eject the troublemakers from the venue. Get some great shots of all the band, individuals and then ones of Al who was really co operative and did everything I asked him to short of dressing in a pink tutu...only 'cos we didn't have one otherwise I think he'd have done it for me. Uncle Al likes Ash dear readers ;O)

The live show is something else... Packed house, loud enough to loosen your fillings and jingle yer private parts and more difficult to shoot than any other show I can remember shooting. The lighting is shite for photos but that's the way Al likes it. Add that to the chicken wire in front and it's impossible to shoot through it... Bugger It! I walk onstage and crouch in front of Al and start snapping... Even up close the lights are so erratic and the strobes are going off constantly so I'm struggling... I love Ministry but shooting them live is a pain in the arse!



Hang out after the show backstage and on the bus. The legendary music journo "Mr. Morat" is interviewing Al, Nick Oshiro from Static X pops in for a while and my film director buddy Dean Karr is there hanging. Great guy but the fool likes to go diving with Great White Sharks! Dunno about you but I like my fishes little and on a friggin' plate! Still, you should check out Dean's Myspace and see some of his awesome shark photography...it'll make you wet the bed for sure!



Cue 5am Thursday morning and I'm up and out of the hotel for a 7am flight back to Texas... A short, hectic trip but with good results...and thankfully less than 24 hours in Vegas. I'm happy to be back home and hear Daisy squeak and ask where the hell I've been!

ASH