Review by Deja Tribbitt<\/p>\n
On the ride to the Viejas Arena, my Uber driver is playing Christian music and I can\u2019t tell if it\u2019s ironic or perfectly fitting for what\u2019s about to unfold.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m here to see Ghost, a Grammy award winning Swedish rock band Tobias Forge in 2006. The band has released 6 studio albums, the most recent being \u201cSkeleta,\u201d and is known for its cultlike fanbase and lore. The lore itself has existed for nearly two decades at this point and is not immune to inconsistencies or retcons, so all you really need to know is that Ghost is hell bent on world domination in the name of Satan and Papa V Perpetua is the current frontman and twin brother of Papa Emeritus IV.<\/span><\/p>\n The party starts before the venue doors have even opened. There\u2019s music, cosplay, craft exchanges, and even a proposal. By the time we\u2019re lining up to go in I\u2019ve already got an art print, some bracelets, and an origami rat.<\/span><\/p>\n For all the fun we\u2019re having outside, there\u2019s a strong aura of mystery coming from inside the venue. I\u2019ve been to Ghost rituals before, but this time is different. The use of phones within the concert area has been prohibited this entire tour under threat of being banned from Ghost shows for life, so the specifics of the concert have largely been kept secret. On top of that, unlike his predecessor, Cardinal Copia turned Papa Emeritus IV, Perpetua hasn\u2019t been given a formal online introduction so you have to see him live to get to know him. Together, this makes the main questions of the show \u201cWhat\u2019s this guy\u2019s deal?\u201d and \u201cWhat is he going to do to us?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The tattered black cloth surrounding the stage doesn’t do much in the way of answering my questions, but the completely sold out arena confirms that everyone wants to know. After a few instrumentals, the lights go out and the two screens on either side of the stage light up with a closeup of Perpetua\u2019s face as he starts the show with \u201cPeacefield,\u201d the opening track of \u201cSkeleta.\u201d The curtain drops and the crowd goes wild. As the band continues through \u201cLachryma,\u201d \u201cSpirit,\u201d and \u201cPer Aspera ad Inferi\u201d the screens stay lit up with feeds from the cinematographers behind the barricade and several cameras on stage, showing closeups of Perpetua and the Ghouls as they play their instruments. Being able to see that close up from the stands created a sense of intimacy that reached all the way to the far seats. Perpetua as a frontman is much more playful than Papa IV; light on his feet as he prances around the stage and swings his mic stand around. His lightness is even evident in his changes to the lyrics where Papa IV liked to end \u201cFaith\u201d with \u2018motherfucker\u2019 while Perpetua opted for the much funnier \u2018butt sniffer.\u2019 He\u2019s a born showman, opting for fun over intensity.<\/span><\/p>\n During the outro of Faith Perpetua disappears backstage, only to reappear during \u201cCall Me Little Sunshine\u201d having changed into his papal robes and been suspended on a platform about 10 feet in the air. It\u2019s at this point that I reach for my phone to record, forgetting that it\u2019s been sealed away, before I remember that the point of this concert is to be rite here rite now. At this point the back of the stage has been converted into a cathedral wall complete with electronically projected stained glass windows, brightening up the stage.<\/span><\/p>\n Despite their imagery, Ghost has a penchant for spreading brightness and positivity. The first time Perpetua directly talks to the audience he acknowledges the issues of the world today but reminds the audience to have hope for the future as an introduction to \u201cThe Future is a Foreign Land.\u201d The dedication to this hopeful message is furthered by the lyric changes of \u201cthe dark fascist regime might be gone\u201d to the \u201cthe dark fascist regime <\/span>will<\/b> be gone\u201d and \u201clet us pray for more in 2024\u201d to \u201clet up pray for more in <\/span>2034<\/b>\u201d. The thing I find so amazing about this band is their dedication to making people happy and forget their troubles for a night while still acknowledging that the world has its problems but we need to have hope to get through them.<\/span><\/p>\n The set continued with \u201cSatanized\u201d which included a cameo from Forge\u2019s unnamed priest character from the song\u2019s music video projected on the screens during the latin lyrics, which was a fun wink to the audience.<\/span><\/p>\n The next two songs were a lot of fun, with the lead guitar solo going on too long and being stopped by the bass ghoul after \u201cRitual\u201d and Perpertua rising from the floor holding a cowbell for the beginning of \u201cUmbra\u201d .<\/span><\/p>\n During \u201cYear Zero\u201d Perpetua stood center stage, wearing a mitre and new papal robes with skeletal silver hands gripping his shoulders with a spine and tail going down his back. The entire stage lit up red, making me notice that the lighting rig above the stage was a grucifix, the logo of Ghost. During the song Perpetua had a still commanding presence, accented by the pyrotechnics that created a heat that could be felt around the entire venue. That is, until the Ghouls refused to move out of the way for him to walk away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The backing imagery during \u201cHe Is\u201d stole the show. The stained glass windows of the cathedral became a starry night turning to day as the song went on. Piece by piece a new mosaic formed, depicting an image of Jesus with sunglasses giving a thumbs. He blasted off like a rocket and mosaic and cathedral crumbled at the end of the song, revealing a hallish landscape reminiscent of the Prequelle album cover during \u201cRats.\u201d Several small fires lit on stage as giant black and red versions of Perpetua and the Ghouls were superimposed on the screen, creating a genuine atmosphere of hell on the stage.<\/span><\/p>\n Perpetua let us know that would \u201cdo all y\u2019all\u201d if we had the time, but he could give us a kiss before \u201cKiss the Go-Goat.\u201d After the song he blew kisses into the audience, followed by a round of thumbs-ups. \u201cMummy Dust\u201d and \u201cMonstrance Clock\u201d both had animated backing visuals showing a Metropolis-esque critique of greed and a demonic skeletal orgy, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n The band left the stage and Perpetua came back a few seconds later, saying that he would play a few more songs without us having to ask because \u201cI\u2019m easy,\u201d in contrast to Papa IV who would make the audience beg. The band played \u201cMary on a Cross\u201d, \u201cDance Macabre\u201d, and finally \u201cSquare Hammer\u201d where the cameras turned to the audience and put the fans on the big screen as the concert ended.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They might be silly on stage but when it comes to putting on a good show, Ghost does not mess around. If you haven\u2019t attended a ritual yet, consider this your sign to convert. Afterall, if you have ghost, you have everything.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Review by Deja Tribbitt On the ride to the Viejas Arena, my Uber driver is playing Christian music and I can\u2019t tell if it\u2019s ironic or perfectly fitting for what\u2019s about to unfold. I\u2019m here to see Ghost, a Grammy award winning Swedish rock band Tobias Forge in 2006. The band has released 6 studio […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22960,"featured_media":49003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[33,26,327,2472,2474,2067,2473,2475,2476,25],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49002"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22960"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49004,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49002\/revisions\/49004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}