Founding Tool bassist Paul D'Amour has officially joined Ministry. He'll begin appearing with the band on their upcoming European tour. D'Amour has also been in the studio helping with new Ministry music.
But the real story here is about how Paul and Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen first crossed paths. Uncle Al tells a story to Revolver that involves liquid LSD and Paul and Tool frontman Maynard James Kennan:
"I used to live with Timothy Leary, and he had given me these bottles of liquid LSD to bring on tour," Jourgensen told us. "I'd put two drops in my bottle of whiskey that I'd bring onstage. I'd drink about half the bottle during a show.
So we were on Lollapalooza in '92, I think it was San Francisco, and when we came offstage there were these two guys who were like, 'Great show, dude!' So I gave them my bottle of Bushmills, but I forgot that I had put LSD in it. So they drank it and they were tripping balls for, like, two or three days. They didn't know what was going on and they were freaking out. They were ready to call suicidal hotlines.
It turned out to be Paul and Maynard from Tool! … But he actually thanked me for that moment because he said it really got Tool going into being a psychedelic band. Pretty cosmic, right?"
You have to wonder (1) if this story is true and (2) if it is true, what effect Al had on Tool's output. What if those two never tried Al's liquid LSD?!
Al has the best stories – while this one is great it's nothing compared to the story he shared about trolling Fred Durst or the time he shoved Metallica's veggies up his ass.
Anyway, you can see Paul D'Amour make his Ministry debut at the dates below:
Jun 16: Nickelsdorf Novarock, Austria
Jun 17: Lindau Club Vaudeville, Germany
Jun 18: Strasbourg Laiterie, France
Jun 20: Clisson Hellfest, France
Jun 22: Dessel Graspop, Belgium
Jun 23: Nijmegen Doornroosje, Netherlands
Jun 25: Oslo Vulkan Arena, Norway
Jun 26: Aarhus Voxhall, Denmark
Jun 27: Hannover Pavillon, Germany
Jun 30: Berlin Huxleys, Germany (w/ 3TEETH)
Jul 02: Bristol SWX, UK (w/ 3TEETH)
Jul 03: Glasgow SWG3, UK (w/ 3TEETH)
Jul 04: Birmingham O2 Institute, UK (w/ 3TEETH)
Jul 06: London O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, UK (w/ 3TEETH)
Jul 07: Paris La Machine du Moulin Rouge, France (w/ 3TEETH)
Jul 09: Bochum Matrix, Germany (w/ 3TEETH)
Jul 10: Prague Roxy, Czech Republic (w/ 3TEETH)
Jul 11: Budapest A38, Hungary (w/ 3TEETH)
Jul 12: Timisoara Rock la Mures, Romania
Jul 13: Kosice Collosseum Club, Slovakia
Jul 15: Riga Melna Piektdiena, Latvia (w/ Dying Fetus)
Jul 16: Tallinn Rock Cafe, Estonia (w/ Dying Fetus)
Jul 17: Tampere Pakkahuone, Finland (w/ Dying Fetus)
Jul 19: Gävle Gefle Metal Festival, Sweden
