The FOURTH Night I Saw Ghost

It has been…

{I was trying to be cutesie and insert a countdown timer since the Ghost concert, but, alas, WordPress does not allow iframes, and apparently ALL embeddable countdowns use iframes. So, you’ll have to click the link above to see my hosted countdown if you want to see how many days, hours, minutes, and seconds it’s been since I saw them 😅}

… since I’ve seen Ghost for the fourth time. And I still don’t feel like it’s truly sunk in that I saw them again. Perhaps it is because I do not have the hundreds upon hundreds of photos from the show to go through and relive every single exciting moment of those two hours. Perhaps it’s because it was not the same Papa. Since the Reimpera Tour, we have seen the introduction of Papa V, Copia’s long, lost twin. Well, at least to him.

In addition to the new Papa, more on him later, it was also THE most elaborate Ghost production I have EVER seen. While some would argue that a film is far more elaborate, I beg to differ. I know that the “behind the scenes” portions were not ACTUALLY filmed backstage during those LA Rituals at the Kia Forum. They were on some set somewhere else at a later time. In Skeletour – I keep typing Skeletor, no this isn’t a He-Man villain – all of the theatrics are playing out right before your very eyes.

The staging was incredible, and while I missed the longer bit jutting out a bit more into the crowd, I feel like the depth of the stage and the designs of the backgrounds, and lights made up for it. I felt a significant lack in the colored, dramatic beams of light illuminating the stage from previous shows. However, our darling Toblerone Fudge, introduced something else for Skeletour: a light Grucifix.

Ghost @ The O2 Arena (Ryan Chang)

It was a sight to behold, and a truly dazzling addition. That of which made you realize this was a show ALL about Ghost. {If, you know, the fact that there wasn’t an opening band didn’t give it away.}

The night was set to kick off at 8pm, and only a handful of minutes late, they did. The show itself was a no-phone event, a thing I was originally a little dubious about, simply because of my lack of my own photos. However, I quite enjoyed the immersiveness of the night without having to worry about my phone. Getting to just be with my partner in the stands, people watching and waiting giddily for the time to come, felt rather special.

My partner and I in the line to get in

This was probably my favorite Ghost Ritual outfit to date. Black faux-suede jacket, sheer, sparkly black corset top, black shorts/skirt, rhinestone fishnets, my official Ghost boots and choker, and I even painted a glow-in-the-dark Grucifix on my matte black with glitter-tipped nails! But don’t worry, next leg of Skeletour, I’ll have a purple sequin jacket 😉💜

I had joked in the weeks prior to the show, that I wasn’t sure if my partner would be joining me, as his lack of enthusiasm to going was always notable. So, the day before, when my mother asked if he was coming with me, I said “I’m not sure, I think so?” (He knew full well he was coming.) But she then informed me that I was not allowed to go alone. When in all truth… I think Ghost would be the one band I would go to by myself. I would feel safe enough in the fandom to go confidently. They create such a safe space for their fans, and especially their female fans. The irony was not lost on me that the young lady sitting beside us, was indeed by herself. I wish I had talked to her a bit more, given her some of the bracelets I’d come armed with. But, alas, the social scaries convinced me she was enjoying her quiet alone time more than she would talking with me.

Thankfully, I was saved from dwelling on it too much, as at 8:15, some light music began, and the massive, fully-stage-encompassing, black, velvet-looking?, curtain was dropped. It was time to get Satanized.

The setlist was a mix of things I have and haven’t heard before. Gone was “Respite on the Spitalfields”, the closer from the Re-Impera leg. Added was “The Future Is A Foreign Land” from the Rite Here, Rite Now film.

Peacefield
Lachryma
Spirit
Per Aspera Ad Infiri
From The Pinnacle To The Pit
Call Me Little Sunshine
The Future Is A Foreign Land
Devil Church
Cirice
Darkness At The Heart Of My Love
Satanized
Ritual
Umbra
Year Zero
He Is
Rats
Kiss The Go-Goat
Mummy Dust
Monstrance Clock

The Encore:

Mary On A Cross
Dance Macabre
Square Hammer

It was a beautiful evening, spent in great company, that seemed to be over far too soon. You can tell Toblerone is still figuring out Perpetua’s personality, but you seem to get a bit more out of him in every show. While there will never be another Copia for me, I will love every iteration that comes. When he started talking about how our time for the evening together was growing limited, I once again found myself thinking “You could literally just keep playing and I would stand here forever.” That is the greatest thing I love about Ghost shows. The anticipation of them, but then that desire to just keep existing in that parcel of time for all eternity. There are not many things I can say I feel that way about.

The show was incredible, an experience I hope I never forget. The feeling of just getting to jam away to the music and energy, not overly worried on if I’m getting enough fun photos. While I adore the photos, not having to think about them was really, really nice.

So, enjoy some of the professional photos from the first leg of the Skeletour, and maybe I’ll see you on the next leg 😉