[ATTENDED: September 9, 2019] Ghost
This was my third time seeing Ghost. In four years! They never fail to put on a spectacular show.
Each time I’ve taken C. with me and these last two he brought his friend with him. This time, though, the boys sat in the seats straight back but on a slight rise (they had a great view) and I went to the floor to get as close to the action I could. The usually toss stuff out to the audience after the show, but I was not in the right place.
There were tons of people in full cosplay, and they looked amazing.
It took a while for Ghost to come out. They have a huge stage change up, so it’s understandable. I happened to run into someone I knew there and his son (Hi Gary) which was crazy (although not really as he has seen Ghost like 6 times).
They play taped music as the band sets up. It’s usually a kind of Gregorian chant. Soon the stage was revealed in all of its multi-tiered, stained-glass glory. The music segued into a tape of “Imperium” before the Nameless Ghouls ran out on stage followed soon after by Papa.
This tour was the proper Imperatour. Earlier this year we had seen the Pre-Imperatour. At first it seemed like there wouldn’t be a lot of difference between these tours. Both started out with the melodic Kaisairon and the most wonderful sing along “Rats” (ahhhh!).
But from there things shifted. The previous tour felt a bit like a greatest hits kind of deal. They shared double billing with Volbeat and therefore had to make their set a lot shorter.
So while songs like “Faith” and “Cirice” were played in a slightly different order it was the addition of new songs like the poppy, synthy “Spillways” that made this set fresh.
I always feel that Ghost sounds better live than on record mostly because he uses a lot of backing singers to make the songs sound even bigger.
Being as close as I was to the stage (at least the part that extended into the crowd, I was able to get some great photos of Papa Emeritus IV. Papa, loves costumes changes. he would often walk backstage and return wearing something suitable more interesting than the previous outfit. This time he had bat wings, and then papal robes, and finally a shiny blue jacket.
They played “Devil Church” and had a wonderful guitar duel. With Volbeat, the antics like this were toned down somewhat, so it was fun to see them acting up and showing off. One of the Nameless Ghouls even threw in a few riffs of Born to Run for the Jersey crowd.
It’s always interesting to hear people singing along to a song like “Ritual,” which is so darned catchy, but it does feature a lyric like “smells of dead human sacrifice.
The new album has some really great sings like “Hunter’s Moon” and “Call Me Little Sunshine.” But they also played some songs from their debut, which was cool. “Con Clavi Con Dio” opens with a bass rumble out of an old Kiss song before calling out to Lucifer. It was followed by “Prime Mover” which features some more bass heavy skills. It’s interesting to note that these earlier songs are far simpler than the later ones–as Papa became an even better songwriter.
But these older songs allow Papa to come out in a full black robe and swing an incense thurible.
These songs were almost like a palate cleanser before the super catchy “Year Zero” which features excellent chanting, a rocking chorus and lots and lots of fire!
Then it was time for a lot of fun. They played “Miasma,” and Papa Nihil, who died during the final show of the band’s tour in support of Prequelle, was rolled onstage in a glass casket. They brought out the defibrillators and shocked him back to life (at which point he attacked his waker unti he was handed a saxophone to blown the solo to the song. Nihil fell back into his casket and was rolled off stage. I was sure that Papa Nihil was actually Tobias Forge himself, but he came back onstage in a new outfit (the sparkly blue jacket) far too quickly.
Then came the catchiest song around, the most offensive song that is super popular, “Mary on a Cross.”
Up next was the wonderfully creepy “Mummy Dust.” And of course, there’s always time for a keytar solo! So much fun. Almost as much fun as the end of the song when they shoot forth the mummy dust (confetti) mixed with official Ghost 666 dollar bills. I didn’t get one, but I did get to take a picture of one.
They ended the set with one of the catchiest most singalong songs, “Danse Macabre.” After a little cajoling, we “convinced” them to do one more song and they played yet another supremely catchy song, “Square Hammer” (at the end of which showers of sparks fell from the ceiling, because no, Ghost does not mesa round with stage production.
I’ve seen them now three times and I would see them every time they come around. They always put on a great show.
| 2022 Imperatour (CURE Arena) |
2022 Pre-Imperatour (Prudential Center) | 2019 The Ultimate Tour Named Death (CURE Arena) |
| TAPE: Klara stjärnor (Jan Johansson song) | TAPE: Imperium ⇑ | TAPE: Klara stjärnor (Jan Johansson song) |
| TAPE: Miserere Mei, Deus (Gregorio Allegri song) | Kaisarion ⇑ | TAPE: Miserere Mei, Deus (Gregorio Allegri song) |
| TAPE: Imperium ⇑ | Rats ¶ (2) | Ashes ¶ |
| Kaisarion ⇑ (2) | From the Pinnacle to the Pit ⊗ | Rats ¶ |
| Rats ¶ (3) | Mary on a Cross ⊕ (2) | Absolution ⊗ |
| Faith ¶ (3) | Devil Church ⊗ (2) | Faith ¶ |
| Spillways ⇑ | Cirice ⊗ (2) | Mary on a Cross ⊕ |
| Devil Church ⊗ (with guitar duel featuring a snippet of “Born To Run” by Bruce Springsteen) (3) | Hunter’s Moon ⇑ | Devil Church [with extended jam] ⊗ |
| Cirice ⊗ (3) | Faith ¶ (2) | Cirice ⊗ |
| Hunter’s Moon ⇑ (2) | Helvetesfönster ¶ (2) | Miasma ¶ |
| Ritual € (3) | Year Zero ∞ (2) | Ghuleh/Zombie Queen ∞ |
| Call Me Little Sunshine ⇑ | Ritual € (2) | Helvetesfönster [partial] ¶ |
| Con Clavi Con Dio € | Mummy Dust ⊗ (2) | Spirit ⊗ |
| Prime Mover € | Enter Sandman (Metallica cover) | From the Pinnacle to the Pit ⊗ |
| Watcher in the Sky ⇑ | Dance Macabre ¶ (2) | Ritual € |
| Year Zero ∞ (3) | Square Hammer ♣ | Satan Prayer € |
| TAPE: Spöksonat | TAPE: Sorrow in the Wind (Emmylou Harris song) | Year Zero ∞ |
| He Is ⊗ (2) | TAPE: Spöksonat | |
| Miasma ¶ (2) | He Is ⊗ | |
| Mary on a Cross ⊕ (3) | Mummy Dust ⊗ | |
| Mummy Dust ⊗ (3) | Kiss the Go-Goat ⊕ | |
| Danse Macabre ¶ (3) | Dance Macabre ¶ | |
| Square Hammer ♣ (3) | encore | |
| TAPE: Sorrow in the Wind (Emmylou Harris song) | Square Hammer ♣ | |
| TAPE: Sorrow in the Wind (Emmylou Harris song) |
⇑ Impera (2022)
⊕ Kiss the Go-Goat EP (2019)
♣ Popestar EP (2016)
¶ Prequelle (2018)
⊗ Meliora (2015)
∞ Infestissumam (2013)
€ Opus Eponymous (2010)
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