An Evening with Ghost
Rats on the Road tour
Tivola Theater
Chattanooga TN
5/10/18
Before I begin this review, I feel I should inform you that I am faithful follower of Ghost. They are one of my favorite bands and I will travel to see them any chance I get. I know this opinion does not reflect that of the Great Brainfarter himself, but what does he know?!?
I last saw Ghost when they opened for Iron Maiden in 2017, and a lot has changed for the band since then. The lawsuit, the official admission that Tobias Forge was Papa Emeritus in all incarnations, and the release of a great live album, Ceremony and Devotion, which did a fair job of capturing the live magic of a live show. But more importantly, a new album was on the forefront, and a new leader had been chosen. As usual, during the last live show of 2017, white smoke rose from the stage all day before they played, signifying the conclave had chosen a new leader, much akin to the process at the Vatican when their new Pope is chosen. Papa 3 was ushered offstage and a very old Papa Nihil was introduced. And thatās who we expected to when they next took the stage.
Leading up to the beginning of this tour, a series of three videos were released introducing a very different than expected new leader, Cardinal Copia, and telling of the unthinkable demise of the Papas 1-3. Copia was a much different character than the prior front men, as his appearance was normal; sans any corpse paint. Then the first single āRatsā was released with an accompanying video in which Copia… DANCED!!!!
So that brings us to Chattanooga, in a great venue smaller than the Fox here in Atlanta, but really cool nonetheless. I managed to avoid all the videos of the first 4 shows and never peeked at the prior set lists. I wanted to take it all in fresh. I did hear that there were two additional ghouls on tour; one of them had been nicknamed Swiss Army Ghoul, as he plays multiple instruments and provides back-up vocals, and the other was an additional keyboard player/percussionist. The curtain rose and there were seven ghouls on a familiar stage with three large video stained glass images behind them as a prerecorded intro played. The band kicked into āRatsā as the Cardinal emerged. It took the fans a few minutes, maybe even two songs to get into the show. I know for me, I was taking all the newness in, looking at the set, looking at the new masks on the Ghouls, the new female Ghouls, the backdrop, everything ā it was just sensory overload! Plus, I wanted to really listen to the new song live. They sounded great and you could feel what was happening… the makings of a show Iāll never forget.
As advertised, it was truly an evening with Ghost. The band played two sets for a total of 24 songs with a 15-minute intermission. The first set had the Cardinal go through four costume changes and included four new songs, mixed in with songs from all three albums. During āCiriceā, Copia reached out to a little girl sitting on her dadās shoulders, took her hand, and sang to her. Her smile filled the room as well as the applause from the crowd for the sweet moment.
The second set opened the same as the first, with songs from Meliora dominating the set list as well as two new tracks from the new album. The band sounded great and Copia was just as entertaining as the other front men. I do think that the band was still becoming familiar with the stage setup as the movement around the stage seemed a little stiff, whereas the previous Ghouls moved around like a fine tuned machine. Speaking of fine-tuned, the new lead guitar player, rumored to be Per āSodomizerā Erickson is sloppy on his leads. It has been well documented on many shows and this one was no different. I do want to be clear that it did not affect how great the show was, but was worth mentioning.
The regular show ended with the hit āSquare Hammerā and I had heard that they had abandoned āMonstrance Clockā as the encore. This had been a staple of Ghost shows for many years and it gave the Papas a chance to talk to the audience about sexual relations, specifically the importance of shared orgasms. Luckily for us, we became the second show on the tour that it had been reinstated for.
Copia followed suit, engaging in the same banter of his predecessors, but he added one thing that heās never said before, and I have to tell you, it hit home with me. āThank you for believingā. He slipped out of character and broke that 4th wall for a rare moment of honesty. Iām not sure how many of the nearly sold out crowd caught on to what he said, but being close to the stage I could see a twinkle in his eye, and as it appeared I may have had some extra moisture in my eye too. Itās true. If we fans didnāt believe in this gimmick, he wouldnāt be where he was. The mystery is gone, but it doesnāt matter. Itās great music, and more importantly itās great showmanship. Itās the attention to detail that many take for granted, for example the white āgangsterā suit the Cardinal appears in is actually a reptile textured material. The head of the cane he carries is the tail of the reptile, matching the pattern in the suit, and is encrusted with diamonds. As I have said before, and this was seconded by my best friend and road dog Tommy, it was the best show we have ever seen them perform and between us we have seen them 15 times. If you are going to do it, go big or go home. In my opinion, Ghost has no intention of fading quietly into the night. And Iām happy about that.
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