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November 13, 2018
Sacramento Community Theater
By Dan Wall
Set 1: Ashes, Rats, Absolution, Idolatrine, Ritual, Con Clavi Con Dio, Per Aspera Ad Inferi, Devil Church, Cirice, Miasma, Jigolo Har Migiddo, Pro Memoria, Witch Image, Life Eternal.
Set 2: Spirit, From The Pinnacle to the Pit, Majesty, Satan Prayer, Faith, Year Zero, He Is, Mummy Dust, If You Have Ghosts, Dance Macabre, Square Hammer.
Encore: Monstrance Clock. 2 hours, 40 minutes (with 15-minute intermission).
It’s taken awhile to finish this one, but in the end, I had to let you all know just how incredible Ghost was in concert. (so, I wrote this during that incredibly boring Super Bowl).
Still supporting the Grammy-nominated “Prequelle,” which was released in early 2018, the band of masked ghouls made a stop in Sacramento in front of a sold-out crowd of highly devoted fans back in November. It was easily the best show I saw last year.
Divided into two hour-long sets and an encore, the band played 25 of its best songs on a huge cathedral-themed stage. The group’s recent success and American tour with Iron Maiden in 2017 has allowed the band the opportunity to tour here with a huge production, lights, sound and all. And the seven-piece unit definitely used it.
For those of you unfamiliar with Ghost, and who want to read the entire biography, I suggest the many articles about the group on the internet. It’s a fascinating history, because band leader Tobias Forge-appearing on this tour as Cardinal Copia-changes his image and appearance on every tour. And only he knows who is under the masks of the many ghouls and one “ghoulette” who serve as his backing band.
Known by the group’s devotees as The Nameless Ghouls, the group is as strong and tight as any band currently playing hard rock and heavy metal, just two of the terms used to describe the band’s sound. Personally, if you were to take Blue Oyster Cult, Queen, Alice Cooper and KISS and throw all of those sounds into a blender, you would have a pretty good idea what Ghost sounds like.
But if you notice, this now 10-year band is much more a classic rock band than a modern rock band. It’s show harkens back to the days of Cooper and KISS, both for visual presentation and the element of surprise. And the crowd in Sacramento, never known as the sort of place that would go all out for a band like Ghost, was solidly behind the band all night. And there were very few protesters at this show.
Protesters, you ask? Yes, with lyrical content that would make the devil blush, Ghost has become enemies with several church organizations who show up at the group’s shows and make it known they don’t want Mr. Forge and his masked playmates anywhere near their churches, community centers, schools or daughters-the exact reason I checked them out in the first place. The band’s lyrics are heavily Satanic, so there are more than a few who dislike the band’s image and songs-all played with great aplomb at the recent show.
The show had many highlights, but there are five songs that absolutely nail the band’s sound as well as any others-the opening metal anthem “Rats;” “Cirice,” a song from the band’s last album that was also nominated for a Grammy; the chugging “From the Pinnacle to the Pit,” the kind of song that you might want to bath in holy water after hearing it; the incredibly catchy single “Dance Macabre; and set closer “Square Hammer,” which can only be described as the best Satanic melodic rock hit written since “Don’t Fear (The Reaper).”
For me, however, no song encapalates the sound better than “Life Eternal,” the song that closed the first half of the show and is the final song on the last album, A beautiful piano-based ballad, it’s the sort of song you could sing to your lady-if she was dead and laying in a coffin, But seriously, it is quite gorgeous, and a surprising addition to the band’s set and sound.
Now safely home in Sweden writing a new record, it could be a year or more before we hear from Ghost again. But when that new album comes out, check out this band and its next tour, because this may be classic/hard/theatrical rock’s next/last best chance.
