Show Review: Die Krupps and Nitzer Ebb get Chicago pulsing for Ministry

Die Krupps, Nitzer Ebb, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, and Ministry: a once-in-a-lifetime lineup that has industrial EBM fans foaming at the mouth.

Since 1980, Germany’s Jürgen Engler and Ralf Dörper (with Paul Keller entering on drums in 2018 and Dylan Smith on guitar in 2024) have pushed the boundaries of electronic music, using factory sounds and WWII ideations, helping lay the original foundation for EBM. Fans bare witness to new sonic applications on each of Die Krupps records as they seek to expand the possibilities of synth-based music mixed with metallic percussion. Die Krupps and Nitzer Ebb joined forces on single “The Machineries Of Joy” in 1989 to create a hypnotic mix of Nitzer Ebb’s chant-y pieces and Die Krupps tinny beats, so getting the two together as openers for Chicago’s Ministry felt like a darkwave dream come true on May 9th, 2025.

The Riviera Theatre was jammed full at the early hour of 7:30 pm on a Friday evening, at least, considered “early” for the usual suspects found at industrial shows. Each person attending this tour knew the rare nugget of gold they had lucked into seeing these legendary acts share a stage, so being late was not an option. Die Krupps took the stage and the crowd began buzzing along to Jürgen Engler in his classic dark sunglasses. Engler truthfully didn’t look much different than his early years, only slowing down on the 1980s back spasm dancing and replacing it with commanding, sweeping arm motions as he controlled the stage, at one point standing on the pipes he was playing on. On singles such as 2013 “Robo Sapien” and the 1993 hit “To The Hilt”, the audience came alive and their bodies followed suit as we danced with strangers both half and twice our own ages. Die Krupps was a rare treat for lovers of the early EBM movement in Europe.

Before Nitzer Ebb‘s performance I hear multiple showgoers comment on their last Chicago performance, headlining the Wicker Park West Fest back in 2023 for FREE. I was at that show and I haven’t seen street festival crowd energy like that before and I haven’t seen it since. Nitzer Ebb‘s beats seem to bring out Chicago’s primal energy, mimicking Douglas McCarthy‘s unabashed on-stage wriggling. The Essex school friends Vaughan “Bon” Harris (programming, synthesizers, drums, vocals), Douglas McCarthy (vocals), and David Gooday (drums) formed the group in 1982 and would eventually break their way in Chicago’s house scene as DJs spun their industrial singles in places like Medusa (the same club that hosted Ministry), where the two genres rubbed shoulders.

After fighting for the very limited Nitzer Ebb merch available, the crowd pushed forward while keeping their room to dance as the group coasted through their Riviera set, of course performing everyone’s single to participate in “Join In The Chant”. In a crowd like this, its impossible to be weird. If you let your body speak, you “let your body learn”.

Finally, Chicago industrial-punk ultimate love Ministry‘s Al Jourgensen slowly strutted out on stage in an outfit I didn’t predict. With the band covered in sequins, sparkles and goofy accessories, I knew this show was about to take me by surprise. Although knowing what the cover art of Ministry‘s recent release The Squirrely Year Revisited looks like…

i shouldn’t have been surprised.

This new album, albeit an absolutely cheeseball goofy mess with the art, brings a synth-pop sound that Ministry had long abandoned by the end of the 80s. The songs themselves aren’t bad obviously, as they are some of their best hits to date like “Every Day Is Halloween” and “Revenge” but I’d argue that some of these songs really didn’t need revisiting in the first place. The show’s background graphics matched the insanely low-effort album art and alternated between what I assume is AI videos of dancing squirrels, skeletons in sombreros playing trumpets and bubble letters of the lyrics.

Poor quality iPhone evidence of said graphics:

I know Al loves to be out there but witnessing this just felt like I accidentally walked into a Wiggles show. The overall performing was still incredible, with no talent being lost to age but it was hard to concentrate on the sound with all the dumb shit behind them. I’m glad the openers took themselves seriously enough to deliver what their fans were looking for.