Ghost - Live at The SSE Arena, Wembley.
Tobias Forge as Cardinal Copia.
Ghost play live at The SSE Arena, Wembley.
© Copyright Stewart Marsden
If you’re unfamiliar with Ghost, I should probably explain both who and what they are.
Ghost is a multi-award-winning rock/metal band from Linköping Sweden, formed in 2006. Their awards include 3 Grammis Awards in their native country of Sweden as well as Grammy for Best Metal Performance. They also have under their belt a number of other awards such as Best Break Through Band - Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, Best Bassist, Best Metal Album, and Best Metal Video - Loudwire Music Awards. Their song Ritual was chosen by Kerrang! Magazine as one of "The 50 Most Evil Songs Ever”.
In a readers poll by Loudwire Magazine “Square Hammer” was awarded best rock song of the decade and won by a country mile.
Their appearance is one of a pantomime theatre performance that imitates the Roman Catholic Church with a pseudo-satanic twist. The frontman Tobias Forge has drawn obvious inspiration from old European Horror B-movies for the clergies Papa Emeritus character, who has lead the order in 3 incarnations for their first 3 albums each representing a chapter in the story of their brand of Clergy.
‘Prequelle’ their fourth album or chapter, received critical acclaim all over the world and made the top 10 here in the UK. This part of their saga is brought to us by Cardinal Copia who takes the reins as an apprentice Papa. This sounds ridiculous, and it is, but so what, its great fun. If you dare to look past your initial Satanic Panic, and take a step into their world, you will find carefully crafted songs about a great many subjects, the avarice of mankind, shamelessly defiant statements about the totalitarian nature of some organised secular religions and songs that reflect on political corruption brought to you through the lens of a witness to the bubonic plague. All come delivered on the silver plate of pop rock, hard metal, extended guitar solos, meatal saxophone, with the occasional 7 minute opus and everything in between. By all accounts Ghost upstaged Metallica as their support act on Metallica’s European tour. They are very good, and music’s most compelling innovation in a very long time.
In November 2019 The Clergy brought their ‘Ultimate Tour Named Death’ to Wembley’s SSE Arena, London.
I arrived in Wembley in plenty of time to get a toasted sandwich and cappuccino from a costa in the adjacent Civic Centre. I watched as the crowd of fans grew outside the arena. While I sat in the warm eating my snack.
I waited at a side entrance at Arena in the warm waiting for my media pass with other guests and members of the media. All of us were excited about tonight’s entertainment. We were guided through by venue staff and given the obligatory safety advice and given our passes and taken to the pit. Wembley Arena offers a spacious area for photographers to operate in.
First up on stage were Tribulation a Swedish black metal band that incorporate elements of psychedelic rock into their musical occult performance. They appeared on stage all in black with face paint that reflected the glow of the predominantly green light being used to illuminate these ghostly figures. Their hard heavy sound was greeted with a warm welcome by the large number of fans they had in the audience.
The industrial joss sticks filled the stage with a wispy fog they moved through, that caught the ends of the guitarists deliberately ragged clothes as he danced around the stage giving them an eerie presence.
They gave a solid performance that was reflected back to them by the hardcore dedicated fans that were in the front few rows. They left the stage having energised and already excited audience.
Next up, All Them Witches, an American rock band from Nashville, Tennessee, I had never heard of them before this night. The band's musical style drew on elements from multiple genres like blues, country and psychedelic rock. They were a stark contrast to what was up before and what was coming up next. This seemed to leave people somewhat confused, they were clearly talented musicians, and had a well crafted unique sound. They played some great music well worth looking up on Spotify; but gave off a vibe that seemed a little out of place for tonight’s bill.
The auditorium feel dark and the stage dressers got to work behind enormous blackout curtains. Excitement began to build.
Having had enough time to scoff a Wembley classic hot dog and wash it down with a crisp cool pint; it was time to head back to the pit. The stage had been dressed as the interior of a church, The back drop was 3 large back side illuminated stain glass windows with the 3 Papas illustrated on them. The nameless Ghouls took to their positions around the ambulatory as Ashes played hauntingly on speakers around Wembley Arena which is now the Nave to Copia’s church.
I knew Kieran Larkin was out there somewhere, I didn’t think for a moment I’d spot him in the crowd, but he saw me looking.
The enigmatic Cardinal Copia in his letterbox red tuxedo vestments, prosthetic mask and black eye makeup takes to the brightly illuminated pulpit that is tonight's stage. The crowd roar as the hard and heavy riffs of Rats kicks in from the ghouls as as they prowl the pulpit with their iconic custom made signature Hagstrom Fantomen guitars.
This evenings service has begun.
Ghost put on an incredible show, the kind you may find on any Broadway stage. The evening featured many costume changes and extras in over theatrical costumes and plague masks. The Nameless Ghouls perform guitar duels swinging the fret boards of their Fantomen’s at each other like swords while the Cardinal changes robes back stage. One of their duels was a metal rendition of the EastEnders theme. There was crowd participation and comedy conversational moments where Copia takes pause to apparently take communion from audience members. He rides his tiny tricycle across the stage during ‘Miasma’ and the elderly, Papa Nihil comes on stage in cool Ray Bans to play the saxophone solo before apparently keeling over dead to a thunderous applause.
After doing my photography I stashed my kit with venue staff, grabbed a pint and stood towards the back watching the show. I posted on Facebook “Ghost live - Awesome” or some such thing, “you’re here too?” Alex, a friend of mine responded. I gave him my rough whereabouts not expecting him to locate me in the enormous congregation until he tapped me on the shoulder. We rocked, danced very macabrely and sang along with thousands to perhaps the best concert performance I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot, and it is true, Ghost are head and shoulders better than Metallica live.
The evenings service ended with pyrotechnics and confetti as everyone sang along to the best song for a decade - Square Hammer. By the end of the nights service we had all been given a blessing by his holiness to wear our independence like a crown, and stepped out empowered into a cold November night, bewitched in the moonlight. I was now immune to the ills of our world. I had taken my oath with my fellow brethren before a comically pseudo satanic version of Freddy Mercury. I had sworn to be honest and true, on the square and on the level, having been forewarned, by ‘Cardinal Copia’ with his competition winning pencil thin moustache, about corrupt politicians, singular deities who would attempt to exploit ignorance for profit; and all the other filthy rodents who are coming for my soul.
Setlist:
Ashes
Rats
Absolution
Faith
Mary on a Cross
Devil Church
Cirice
Miasma
Ghuleh/Zombie Queen
Helvetesfönster
Spirit
From the Pinnacle to the Pit
Ritual
Satan Prayer
Year Zero
Spöksonat
He Is
Mummy Dust
Kiss the Go-Goat
Dance Macabre
Square Hammer
