Confused onlookers around Boston’s TD Garden gawked at the throngs of black-clad, face-painted, and ghoulishly-themed devotees of the band Ghost flooding the area on Monday, July 21st. The dark congregation signaled that the popular arena rock band had come to town for their SKELETOUR world tour in support of their new album Skeletá.
The evening was solely focused on Ghost and their fans at the sold-out Garden; there were no opening performances, and the show did not start until nearly 8:20 pm. In spite of the pointedly grim theme of the tour, the mood could best be described as surprisingly wholesome. Excited fans of all ages arrived early and hyped each other up, buzzing in anticipation for the show—commonly referred to among fans as a ritual—to begin. Many came dressed in a simple band tee, and plenty of others had painted their faces with skull patterns, yet a decent number pulled out all the stops and arrived in gloriously glittery vestments of Satanic clergy. They all had little choice but to interact with each other as they waited, because everyone’s phone was locked inside a pouch for the duration of the phone-free event.
The ritual lived up to the hype. Ghost began with the choral intro to Skeletá lead track “Peacefield” from behind a huge tattered curtain that opened to reveal the band: frontman Papa V Perpetua (the current persona of Ghost founder Tobias Forge) and his accompanying Nameless Ghouls. Spaced across a sprawling gothic stage beneath a massive, looming crucifix of a lighting assembly, they cast an imposing silhouette. The dramatic iconography and intense theme of the ritual belied the actual accessibility of the music. From the outside looking in, the congregation looked more insular than it was. In reality, newcomers were welcomed into the fold with open, winged arms. The complete absence of phones was a refreshing sight, and fans fully in the moment engaged with the band in some classic ways: raised lighters, and at least one bra that found its way on stage. Ghost performed a 2-hour long set that featured a blend of very well-received selections from several albums. The arena crowd chanted lyrics in unison as the band hit some particular favorites with “Satanized,” “Rats,” “Mary On A Cross,” and “Square Hammer.”
The ritual was not filled with much sermonizing, but as the night drew to a close, there was more banter. Tobias Forge took a moment to thank everyone for selling out TD Garden, and he reminisced on previous, considerably smaller tours to Massachusetts, citing shows at The Middle East downstairs and The Orpheum Theatre as far back as 2012. The pageantry and pomp of the SKELETOUR was practically tailor-made for a venue like TD Garden, but Ghost has travelled a long path to reach such heights.
Check out all of Greg’s photos from the show below.
