This is probably my third or fourth time now seeing Ghost in concert and I can tell you that they are still incredible. Seriously, go watch these guys already!
Not only are these guys awesome, but they also manage to score really hot openers with Spiritbox and Mastodon. Due to some terribly slow parking, we missed most of Spiritbox’s six-song set, but what we did hear was strong. Mastodon had the crowd amped from the second they stepped on the stage. Their set started with more succinct songs, and then morphed into ten minute opuses by the end! I’ve never really been a big fan of either of these openers, but I can still appreciate that they sounded great. What was even more great was how freaking fast the tear-down and set-up was in between acts! They were fast as lightening as far as I’m concerned.
When Ghost took the stage, the crowd went rightfully bananas. They opened with the punchy “Kaisarion” off their latest album, Impera – I freaking love that song. The rest of the set was a nice mix of songs off all of their records, most all of which I knew! Yay! I’m a late to the party Ghost fan, so this was probably my favorite time seeing them live. They played fan favorites and staples like “Cirice,” “Mary on a Cross,” and “Year Zero,” but they also added in a fair number of other tracks off the new album like, “Griftwood,” “Call Me Little Sunshine,” and “Watcher in the Sky.” It wouldn’t be a Ghost show though if they didn’t end with bonafide hits “Dance Macabre” and “Square Hammer.” They sounded fantastic!
Something else that makes a Ghost show so entertaining is just the sheer stage presence. The set was the entire stage, the drums were up on a huge platform, and all of the musicians were dressed up in the Nameless Ghouls signature get-up. Then Tobias Forge had about four costume changes throughout the evening, all of which were pretty darn quick given how elaborate some of them were. He showed up in garb representative of Pape Emeritus IV, Cardinal Copia, and Papa Emeritus III for sure. The rest I’m not too confident of. Either way, he looked awesome and each time the crowd went ballistic. This was also the most fun I think I’ve seen the Nameless Ghouls have on stage, and that in turn was fun for me!
Again, if you’ve never listened to Ghost before, it’s never too late to start, and if you get the chance to see them on this tour – do it.