I’m not even sure where to start because there’s so much to say. The venue is a historic old theater in downtown St. Paul that housed acts like The Marx Brothers. Fast forward to 2018 and another vaudeville act passed through, Ghost. They are on tour to support the latest release Prequelle. The buzz on this record is like what I’ve not seen in quite some time. The band seems to continue to develop and change. Not only in appearance but musically.
This was a sold-out show of over 2500 anxious fans, many were left outside hoping to find a ticket. For those of you that have not had a chance to see this band live, unfortunately this is probably your last time in a smaller venue as I think that Ghost has set themselves up to explode over the next year into arenas. It’s an interesting dichotomy of fans because they have young people as well as older fans, I think the appeal goes beyond the image and right to the heart of their songs. When you look at them it’s easy to assume they sound a certain way but should be very surprised to find out it’s nothing like what you thought.
They were formed in 2006 in Linkoping, Sweden. Tobias Forge the lead singer of the band was originally portraying a character by the name of Papa Emeritus. On this latest run he has changed characters to Cardinal Copia who is described as a character that’s unrelated to the Papa Emeritus character. This is the vaudeville piece of it for me, they’re very entertaining and always changing things around. Many people feel like they are what Kiss was in the 1970s but I don’t know if I feel that way. I would lean more towards Alice Cooper, either way they’re unique and entertaining.
Their music has a classic rock feel to it and nowhere near what you would assume it would sound like. They played to full sets on Friday night with Act I then a 15-minute intermission and Act II. One of the songs that stood out for me early in the set is their latest single “Rats” as they worked their way through the entire history of the bands catalog including all the way back to their first album where they performed “Con Clavi Con Dio”. The one song that was visibly absent from the set list however was “Elizabeth”.
After the short intermission, they came back and opened with “Spirit” off their album Meliora. They worked their way through another full set of music with Forge keeping it entertaining with some costume changes great lighting and of course the ghouls. For those of you that are not aware of what that is, the ghouls are the rest of the band members who are nameless and faceless. They all wear masks and are dressed in the same black clothing.
For any of you reading this review, it all may sound too hard to believe. Look at the photos, check out their music online and go out and see them at a show if you get the opportunity. My advice though is buy the tickets when they go on sale because they don’t seem to last. The big question is, is Ghost good for rock ‘n roll? I would say the answer is yes.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Tommy Sommers Photography
