Ghost
Live at the Trocadero Theater in Philadelphia, PA-May 12th, 2013
*Full setlist will follow the review
Simply put, this show was absolutely incredible! So much so that I haven't any idea where to begin...so I guess we'll start at the beginning.
An evening with Ghost is a night full of surprises, starting with the sheer amount of people who arrived more than an hour early. The doors of the Troc opened at 7 PM, with the show beginning at 8, and my brother and I arrived there a bit prior to 6. When we got there, there must've been at least 30 people already waiting in line, with a steady stream of early-goers still coming. The diversity of the crowd was simply spectacular: quite a bit from the older generations, some from my own (including two 15-year-olds that I stood beside throughout the show, one of whom was wearing a Burzum shirt), guys in Rush and Tool shirts, quite a few with Ghost shirts, Death to All shirts, goth-dressed girls, and members of both genders in casual dress (I saw platform boots and flip-flops last night). It was perhaps the most diverse group of fans I think I'll ever see, and yet the camaraderie at this show was no different than that at any other metal show. It made for great fun, especially towards the end, but we'll get to that in a bit.
Anyway, Ides of Gemini hit the stage a little after 8 and...well, they weren't exactly favored by the crowd. Nothing they played was all too impressive, and they played five songs, but you could hardly tell one from another. I, and several of the people around me, said it sounded like they were playing the same exact thing for a half hour. Before their last song, one guy shouted that they sucked (I wouldn't be keen to disagree), with another suggesting that they "play some fucking Slayer" (oh, there was a ton of people sporting Slayer shirts, too, unsurprisingly).
After their set, everyone came to the unanimous decision that they sucked and went about their banter while waiting impatiently for Papa and his Ghouls. And what a reception they received when they finally took the stage! Except, of course, for one drunken ass shouting insults to Papa during "Per Aspera ad Inferi", calling him a "pussy" and saying the guitarist "sucked" and should "play like Dimebag". People got fed up quickly (especially me, since he was screaming this all right in my ear so I could hardly hear anything else), but luckily he disappeared before the third song started. Knowing that Ghost tends to be a pretty tame, mellow band, and after hearing from a few people that the crowds fell in-line with that and some shows even had people "dancing", I was a bit surprised and yet not by the mosh pits. Of course, they, too, were pretty mild, and did not persist throughout the entire show, and were often short-lived during bombastic guitar solos. The entire show was a huge sing-along with Papa, most especially during "Year Zero" near the end of the set. As soon as the sound of Belial's name filled the air, we all knew and we all fell in in perfect harmony with one another. Papa allowed us to sing the chorus, and I cannot begin to describe what it was like after the final verse when every single solitary person in that packed venue raised their horns and screamed as loud as they could "Hail Satan!" and continued on with the rest of the chorus with Papa. The entire time that they were on stage, we felt like his children and he guided us through the show like a father!
Other highlights were Papa dedicating "Elizabeth" to the ladies of Philadelphia (during which he took a bouquet of flowers from a woman in the front row), the crowd's uproar over "Satan Prayer", and the last song of the set, the ever-loved "Ritual". The exchange between Papa and the crowd was quite funny, too, as one person screamed "I love you, Papa!" and he replied that Ghost was in turn "fond" of us. He then changed his mind and returned our love, and invited us to "commemorate this exchange of 'love'" by joining him in "one final ritual", during which the crowd-choir seemingly over-powered their conductor at times with intermittently clapping along to the beat, one of the short-lived pits, and everyone screaming the chorus. Papa especially enjoyed that, as it wasn't much different throughout the preceding songs.
And yet, when we thought it couldn't get much better, WE WEREN'T FINISHED.
The encore, oh the encore!
When Ghost disappeared from the stage after "Ritual", not a single person was silent. Some people chanted "Monstrance Clock" while others simply chanted the band's name, with a few screaming specifically for Papa. And oh what a present they had for us when they answered our heckling...
They played "Ghuleh/Zombie Queen" for us! For the first time ever, Ghost performed "Ghuleh", and at that point, without exaggeration, everyone just about lost their shit. I'll tell you, and so will everyone else that was there, "Ghuleh" is quite a trip live, and sounds so very very sweet. I think that was the biggest surprise of the night.
Live at the Trocadero Theater in Philadelphia, PA-May 12th, 2013
*Full setlist will follow the review
Simply put, this show was absolutely incredible! So much so that I haven't any idea where to begin...so I guess we'll start at the beginning.
An evening with Ghost is a night full of surprises, starting with the sheer amount of people who arrived more than an hour early. The doors of the Troc opened at 7 PM, with the show beginning at 8, and my brother and I arrived there a bit prior to 6. When we got there, there must've been at least 30 people already waiting in line, with a steady stream of early-goers still coming. The diversity of the crowd was simply spectacular: quite a bit from the older generations, some from my own (including two 15-year-olds that I stood beside throughout the show, one of whom was wearing a Burzum shirt), guys in Rush and Tool shirts, quite a few with Ghost shirts, Death to All shirts, goth-dressed girls, and members of both genders in casual dress (I saw platform boots and flip-flops last night). It was perhaps the most diverse group of fans I think I'll ever see, and yet the camaraderie at this show was no different than that at any other metal show. It made for great fun, especially towards the end, but we'll get to that in a bit.
Anyway, Ides of Gemini hit the stage a little after 8 and...well, they weren't exactly favored by the crowd. Nothing they played was all too impressive, and they played five songs, but you could hardly tell one from another. I, and several of the people around me, said it sounded like they were playing the same exact thing for a half hour. Before their last song, one guy shouted that they sucked (I wouldn't be keen to disagree), with another suggesting that they "play some fucking Slayer" (oh, there was a ton of people sporting Slayer shirts, too, unsurprisingly).
After their set, everyone came to the unanimous decision that they sucked and went about their banter while waiting impatiently for Papa and his Ghouls. And what a reception they received when they finally took the stage! Except, of course, for one drunken ass shouting insults to Papa during "Per Aspera ad Inferi", calling him a "pussy" and saying the guitarist "sucked" and should "play like Dimebag". People got fed up quickly (especially me, since he was screaming this all right in my ear so I could hardly hear anything else), but luckily he disappeared before the third song started. Knowing that Ghost tends to be a pretty tame, mellow band, and after hearing from a few people that the crowds fell in-line with that and some shows even had people "dancing", I was a bit surprised and yet not by the mosh pits. Of course, they, too, were pretty mild, and did not persist throughout the entire show, and were often short-lived during bombastic guitar solos. The entire show was a huge sing-along with Papa, most especially during "Year Zero" near the end of the set. As soon as the sound of Belial's name filled the air, we all knew and we all fell in in perfect harmony with one another. Papa allowed us to sing the chorus, and I cannot begin to describe what it was like after the final verse when every single solitary person in that packed venue raised their horns and screamed as loud as they could "Hail Satan!" and continued on with the rest of the chorus with Papa. The entire time that they were on stage, we felt like his children and he guided us through the show like a father!
Other highlights were Papa dedicating "Elizabeth" to the ladies of Philadelphia (during which he took a bouquet of flowers from a woman in the front row), the crowd's uproar over "Satan Prayer", and the last song of the set, the ever-loved "Ritual". The exchange between Papa and the crowd was quite funny, too, as one person screamed "I love you, Papa!" and he replied that Ghost was in turn "fond" of us. He then changed his mind and returned our love, and invited us to "commemorate this exchange of 'love'" by joining him in "one final ritual", during which the crowd-choir seemingly over-powered their conductor at times with intermittently clapping along to the beat, one of the short-lived pits, and everyone screaming the chorus. Papa especially enjoyed that, as it wasn't much different throughout the preceding songs.
And yet, when we thought it couldn't get much better, WE WEREN'T FINISHED.
The encore, oh the encore!
When Ghost disappeared from the stage after "Ritual", not a single person was silent. Some people chanted "Monstrance Clock" while others simply chanted the band's name, with a few screaming specifically for Papa. And oh what a present they had for us when they answered our heckling...
They played "Ghuleh/Zombie Queen" for us! For the first time ever, Ghost performed "Ghuleh", and at that point, without exaggeration, everyone just about lost their shit. I'll tell you, and so will everyone else that was there, "Ghuleh" is quite a trip live, and sounds so very very sweet. I think that was the biggest surprise of the night.
Following "Ghlueh" and Papa telling us that it was the first time they'd ever played it, and him teased us, saying, "so let's do it again! A 1, 2...no, no...nevermind that", he spotted a man in the crowd that was holding his son, who could've been no older than 3 (yes, three years old), and invited him towards the front. He asked the little boy's name, and it took about 10 or so people to tell him it was Christopher, and it's pretty safe to say that, from that, the final song of the evening, "Monstrance Clock", was dedicated to Christopher. The crowd surrounding the man and his son was incredibly calm (including the three morons that kept trying to start a three-man mosh that NOBODY wanted anything to do with), and two of the Ghouls tossed their picks to little Christopher. He didn't catch either of them, but one of the fans who did catch one went up to him after the lights came on and gave his to him.
Needless to say, I rank Ghost's performance as a 10/10, after which the crowd slowly emerged from its reverie and dispersed into the night, people making their way back to their burrows until the next show. Those that we talked to while waiting around went off in other directions, feeling as one, not by sharing names, but by sharing the terrific experience that was Ghost. The city of Philadelphia successfully came together as one for Lucifer's son.
GHOST-Ghuleh/Zombie Queen (Live)
Setlist:
"Infestissumam"
"Per Aspera ad Inferi"
"Con Clavi Con Dio"
"Prime Mover"
"Elizabeth"
"Secular Haze"
"Body and Blood"
"Stand by Him"
"Death Knell"
"Satan Prayer"
"Genesis"
"Year Zero"
"Ritual"
"Ghuleh/Zombie Queen" *Encore*
"Monstrance Clock" *Encore*
(Originally written for headbangerssanctuary.com on May 13th, 2013)
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