Tonight was surely going to be a good one. This was my thought process as I stepped off the LIRR train and began the short walk to the UBS Arena in Belmont. I had to say that it was rather exciting to be returning to the place so soon because I had only just been here for the very first time for an absolutely incredible show my the legendary Scorpions. The other part about the excitement came from finally being able to catch Spiritbox who would be starting this event off as the lead act and with so many colleagues in the industry being behind their musical adventures how could I not take advantage of the chance to witness them myself. I was also quite excited to find Mastodon on the tour as I’d been a fan of their sound for a number of years but haven’t been able to catch them on their last few rounds for one reason or another. Then there is the mighty Ghost and what else can be said about this enigmatic outfit that hasn’t been said already.
Now I made sure to arrive early to be sure that I could catch everyone in concert and this is something that I tell all of the Metal hears that I see at shows. You paid a lot of money for a ticket so be sure to get yourself inside the venue to enjoy the whole thing. Having arrived earlier than the time that I had to meet the folks that let you inside I wandered the general grounds and was stoked to see so many of their fans in Ghost-themed cosplay. Most of you know that I go to the New York Comic Con every year and this was finding me feeling like this was a warmup for that event. There were faux Papas of all shapes and sizes and even a bunch of sinister Sisters. I snapped photos of anyone who would let me and will feature them at the close of this article or maybe even give them their own post. Since I am not there yet I am undecided but now I was inside and ready to enjoy the sounds of Spiritbox.
For the other newbies to the band, Spiritbox hails from Canada and features two former members of Iwrestledabearonce with singer Courtney LaPlante and guitarist Mike Stringer. With this being the case I guess one can consider them an offshoot from that band. They hit the stage running with “Circle With Me” which is a fantastic tune IMHO. They would follow with three more from their “Eternal Blue” release with the remaining two songs coming from “Rotoscope”. There was a solid crowd for their set but it was not yet at capacity and that being said I think that Spiritbox went over quite well. I know that I’ll be looking more into them going forward and I think that they also had a good time. If you arrived late and somehow missed them you should click around on Spotify or YouTube and make sure to not do that the next time. Onward to Mastodon.
Spiritbox Set List:
1. Circle With Me
2. Hurt You
3. Yellowjacket
4. Holy Roller
5. Rotoscope
6. Hysteria
In the event that you are one of the people who have never been able to see Mastodon before, let me tell you that that are literally one of the best live bands out there on the stage today. They impress and stun their fanbase with each and every release and tonight it seemed like they were going to be delivering a little bit of everything for those who wisely chose to get into place on the early side. Tonight they opened with “Pain with an Anchor” from their 2021 release “Hushed and Grim” and Troy Sanders was sounding awesome as always. Next would be “Crystal Skull” from “Blood Mountain”, a truly exciting album. “Megalodon” would be next from the album “Leviathan” which was the release that I first took to the band from. For me, drummer Brann Dailor is like watching an octopus behind the drums. He is just so powerful and fluid and if you’re notorious for air-drumming during concerts, Mr. Dailor will leave you feeling like you’ve worked out. As expected the band would perform in limited light and have all sorts of colorful screens projected behind them. I feel this adds to their own magic and let’s the music that they are delivering stand out and send you to a different place.
Guitarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher were locked solid together with guitar wizardry as they touched upon most of their releases with the exception of their “Emperor of Sand” and “Once More ‘Round The Sun” from which they didn’t play anything. Tonight the focus would be on the new album along with “Blood Mountain” and “Crack They Skye”. It was truly a solid set but now it was time for Ghost.
Mastodon Set List:
1. Pain with an Anchor
2. Crystal Skull
3. Megalodon
4. The Crux
5. Teardrinker
6. Bladecatcher
7. Black Tongue
8. The Czar
9. Pushing the Tides
10. More Than I Could Chew
11. Mother Puncher
And now at long last it was time for Ghost and I could not convey easily just how excited I was to be seeing them again. The last time that I caught Ghost in action they were fronted by Papa Emeritus III but he had been replaced by Cardinal Copia who I never managed to see perform live. Copia would eventually ascend to his current incarnation as Papa Emeritus IV and fortunately for all of the fans in attendance tonight and across the tour, he sounds exactly like Papa I, II and III. Now before I get too into this part, did you know at one time that Ghost was the first band on a tour that featured a co-headlining Opeth and Mastodon? That was the “Heritage and Hunter” tour but sadly I missed that one myself. One cannot be everywhere despite wanting to.
After the intro of “Imperium” the band launched into “Kaisarion” and there he was in all his glory, Papa Emeritus IV and the screams from the crowd were deafening. He didn’t come out in the usual cassock and headpiece we’ve seen in the videos and instead was in more of a shiny sport jacket. He quickly hit us with “Rats” and “Faith” from his Cardinal tenure before returning to songs from “Impera” with “Spillways”. When the Nameless Ghouls on guitar started to do “Devil Church” they also noodled a little with “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Sister unless my ears were deceiving me and then it was onto “Cirice” also from “Meliora”. That’s a favorite of mine from the release but I will stop lining out all of the numbers and instead highlight some favorites. A new fave for me was “Hunter’s Moon” which made its first appearance in the “Halloween Kills” film. You had to remain through all of the credits to hear it but honestly it was worth it.
Papa IV would change outfits a few times over the course of the show and did have on his cassock during “Year Zero” which remains one of my favorite numbers from their repertoire. They even brought out Papa Nihil to play a little saxophone, but this undead Papa was quickly returned to his coffin afterwards and wheeled backstage where he had come from. “Mary On A Cross” brought us back to their sixties vibe and “Danse Macabre” was a whole lot of fun and I have to say that I like this song more after hearing it live than I did initially. During the whole course of the show you could tell that the people in the audience were energizing Papa IV through each and every song and he engaged them on a regular basis. He is truly the consummate showman that knows how to keep your attention until he doesn’t want it anymore. Sadly, it would all come to an end with a rousing “Square Hammer” and everyone was on their feet singing along and screaming for more when it had ended. Alas, this was not to be and it was time to head home. I think everyone got the most out of their entertainment dollar. On the way home I even saw more “Ghostplayers”, my new official term for those in dare I say “Ghostplay”. I even ran into a friend that I had not seen in many years which was the icing on the cake. If you can still catch this tour make sure you do it and if not, be sure to catch Ghost on their return visit. I’m not too sure that Papa IV will still be in place because they do change this role often. The upside of the World Of Ghost is that there is always another Papa.
Ghost Set List:
1. Imperium
2. Kaisarion3. Rats
4. Faith
5. Spillways
6. Devil Church
7. Cirice
8. Hunter’s Moon
9. Ritual
10. Call Me Little Sunshine
11. Con Clavi Con Dio
12. Prime Mover
13. Watcher in the Sky
14. Year Zero
15. Spöksonat
16. He Is
17. Miasma
18. Mary on a Cross
19. Mummy Dust
20. Dance Macabre
21. Square Hammer
Official: https://www.ghost-official.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebandghost
