Considering that for many of these years Al was as high as a satellite, the achievement is even more striking. As a member or associate of at least a dozen different outfits, few writers and performers have been quite so prolific. Since forming Ministry almost four decades ago, few artists have been quite as productive as Al Jourgensen. “I think I got grounded for a week after that day.” “My mom was pretty angry at me for being there,” says Al today. This it duly did, as a riot arrived that saw live ammunition fired into the crowds and so much tear gas deployed that it seeped into the bedrooms of nearby hotels. The band’s guitarist, Wayne Kramer, high on acid, watched the helicopters and the ranks of jittery cops and just knew that the whole thing was about to blow. It was after a set by Detroit’s dependably combustible MC5 that hell slipped its leash. As politicians made their way to the convention, thousands of protestors were getting ready to rumble outside. These were the days of the Vietnam War, not to mention the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. This was in the summer of 1968 the occasion was the Democratic National Convention held that summer at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago. At the age of 10 Al Jourgensen was on hand to witness one of the most incendiary concerts in the history of American rock’n’roll.
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