Ghost - Birmingham Review

It is always great to see a new hard rock or metal band rise through the ranks and become an arena-headlining act. There is often a lot of pearl-clutching from rock and metal fans, particularly here in the UK, when the subject of future festival headliners is raised. "When Metallica and Iron Maiden retire there will be no-one left to headline Download!" a certain, but sadly vocal, group of people often say - as if to make the point that the rock and metal scenes are not as they were in these people's day. The people who utter such rubbish are usually older, and probably have no interest in any music that has been released in the last 20 years in any case, but there are plenty of newer bands that have already headlined Download (e.g. Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold, Muse, etc.) - and there are plenty more that are certainly on their way to doing so. One such band, for me, has to be Sweden's Ghost. I have told the story of my personal, delayed, history with the band on here previously, so I will not repeat it, but it is safe to say that I am now a big fan of Tobias Forge and his whole vision. They are a divisive band, which I can personally attest to, but only those who wish to purposely underplay the band's achievements will not recognise that Ghost are one of the biggest rock and metal bands in the world at the moment. For a band that only released their debut album 12 years ago, this status is hugely impressive. From tiny clubs to festival headline slots (the band headlined the 2017 iteration of Bloodstock Open Air here in the UK) Ghost have continued to grow, and they are now established arena-fillers in the UK. I saw the band live for the first time in 2019, after finally getting into them the previous year, at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. For a band that was playing at Rock City four years before, filling the city's arena was a great achievement. The Motorpoint Arena was not sold out in 2019, but it was very busy - and the crowd gathered within could have easily sold out Rock City multiple times. Ghost's 2019 tour was their first foray into headline arena shows in the UK - but it would not be their last. Yesterday, I travelled up to Birmingham, to the Resorts World Arena at the NEC complex, to catch the band live for the second time. Ghost are probably even bigger now than they were in 2019, and they have moved up from the 'smaller' arenas (such as the one in Nottingham) to the larger ones - with this tour having already hit up the O2 Arena in London. Ghost are certainly going big rather than going home, and seem to be on top of the world currently following the release of their excellent new album Impera last month. Impera may well be my favourite Ghost album yet, and I was really looking forward to hearing some of the songs live - as well as reliving some of the excellent moments from the 2019 show. Lots seemed to share the same sentiment, as the place was pretty packed. I doubt that the show was sold out, but the crowd was large - and certainly warranted being held at the NEC.

Before Ghost took to the stage, however, the growing crowd was treated to sets from two support acts. I remember the support acts in 2019 being underwhelming (although I do have a passing interest in Tribulation), and sadly, at least for me, that was also the case this time. Up first were Twin Temple, a duo (although they were supported by four other musicians) who describe their sound as Satanic doo-wop. I am certainly no doo-wop expert, but that description is probably fairly accurate, at least up to a point - although I have to say that Twin Temple's set was very much one of style over substance. They are almost the posterchild for the fact that having a gimmick is not enough to make a band interesting - as songwriting is just as important. Twin Temple only had enough half an hour to play with, but they probably wasted between 10 and 15 minutes of this time acting out something of a ritual - whilst their backing band played some rather generic sounding soft jazz. Even when frontwoman Alexandra James actually started singing, though, nothing really changed. The only thing at all Satanic about Twin Temple's sound were the lyrics; as the music was all very typical of the lounge/jazz style of the 1920s - albeit rocked up somewhat. There was no attempt to make this sound particularly evil or metal sounding - and the band seemed to realise this, hence spending so much time at the start and end of the set playing with goblets, swords, and an altar at the back of the stage. As such, the band probably only played three or four actual songs; and all of them sounded very similar. James is certainly a good singer, but she did nothing to stand out from any other lounge singer out there - and I found myself getting bored with the band's act after the initial novelty factor had worn off. It did not help that the music itself was extremely safe - and certainly not in any way Satanic. Take away the lyrics and the mucking around, and the songs could have been played at a jazz club to a stuffy old jazz crowd - and to me that is rather telling.

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, who followed, were better - although not significantly. I had seen the band live previously, as they supported Black Sabbath at the same venue in 2013. I remember not thinking much of them back then, but I went into their set with an open mind as I had not heard a note of their music in nine years. On the one hand, I do admire the band's commitment to their sound and overall style. They clearly want to channel early Black Sabbath and the late 1960s psychedelic rock scene, and in some ways they really nail that sound. On the other hand, however, they fall foul of the same issues that Twin Temple do - in that purely having a style is not enough. I actually enjoyed the band's first couple of songs, and I thought that I might 'get them' this time, but it soon became clear that uncle Acid and the Deadbeats only do one thing. Throughout their 40 or so minutes on stage nothing really changed. Overly-fuzzy guitars churned out droning riff after droning riff whilst Kevin Starrs (vocals/guitar) and Vaughn Stokes (guitar/vocals) sang in harmony atop this endless barrage of fuzz. The first couple of songs seemed to have proper choruses and a few hooks, but the fatigue soon set in. I remember feeling very similar in 2013. I even went back and re-read my review of that gig from the time, which confirmed that I did indeed feel the same nine years ago. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats are a band that I want to like, and they are a band that have done pretty well for themselves over the years. Many of their albums have been well-received, and they tour regularly, but they just do not do it for me beyond the novelty of hearing some really fuzzy guitars for a few minutes. I feel like a bit more variety in the band's sound would help, but it is clear that the band probably want to sound as garagey and as grimy as possible - which means that Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats will probably never be for me.

If there is a band that backs up having a shtick with a tonne of great songs, however, then Ghost is it. It was almost as if the evening was an exercise in how to do a gimmick properly, with some examples of hand of how not to do it too, but anyone who has been following Ghost for any length of time will know that they back up their theatre with real substance. Some bands struggle to adapt to arenas from the spectacle side of things, but Ghost were born to play them. From the moment the curtain dropped, the nine-piece band filled the stage. A huge drum kit sat in the middle of the stage, atop a set of industrial-looking stairs, whilst two banks of keyboards flanked it. A backing singer (one of which also played a fair amount of guitar) stood at either end of the stage; and the main portion of it was the playground of the bassist, the two main guitarists, and Forge himself - adopting his Papa Emeritus IV persona. With five albums to their name now, the setlist was a real mix of songs from throughout the band's history, but it largely focused on their newer work. Impera was represented by four songs, the first of which, Kaisarion, kicked things off with its opening melodic guitar lead and riff-heavy vibe. What followed was around an hour and 45 minutes worth of great music, with the occasional break in play to allow Forge to address the crowd in his now-famous idiosyncratic way. He is a great frontman, and very funny when he does talk to the crowd, but he knows not to overdo it either - and he largely allows the music to do the talking. When a song like Rats has a crowd singing loudly and a song like From the Pinnacle to the Pit whips up the amount of headbanging that it does, however, it is clear that there is not much more that Forge needs to do. He had the crowd on-side from the off, and the soaringly melodic Mary on a Cross sealed the deal before he took his first little break off-stage. Despite being the star, Forge let the band shine, too. Devil Church was stretched out to include plenty of guitar soloing - and it also allowed Forge to don his bat wings and reappear in time for Cirice.

He indulged in a few costume changes throughout the night, but he largely stuck to his dapper suit. This allowed him to cut a distinct presence on the stage among the rest of the Nameless Ghouls - whose Tusken Raider-meets-Big Daddy costumes were certainly striking. Given the strength of the Ghost catalogue, there was really no downtime at all in the set. Newer songs like the hard-driving Hunter's Moon sat perfectly alongside the neo-classical shred of Faith - the latter in particular the lead guitarist Ghoul nailed with his bright white 1970s-style Fender Stratocaster. The rhythm guitarist stuck with the classic shaped guitar that has long been associated with Ghost, though, which makes me wonder if the lead guitarist is a new addition to the band - and has insisted on playing their Strat. They did a great job, though, as did the whole band - who perfectly recreated Ghost's multi-layered sound with ease. Songs like the poppy Spillways benefitted from having dedicated backing singers who could harmonise nicely with Forge, whilst the older Year Zero relied heavily on the depth of the band - with both keyboard players getting a workout. The real band showcase, however, was the instrumental piece Miasma, which featured lots of strong keyboard and guitar playing - before, as was the case on the previous tour, the third guitarist appeared on stage dressed up as Papa Nihil to play the song's saxophone solo. By this point, however, the end of the set was approaching. The heavier Mummy Dust allowed gave everyone the opportunity to head bang again, whilst the anthemic Kiss the Go-Goat was seen as the end of the main set. The band never left the stage however, and following some thank yous Forge started singing their cover of Metallica's Enter Sandman. Personally I would have rather heard another song from the new album, but it was a fun addition to the set - before two bona fide Ghost classics finished things off. Dance Macabre turned the whole arena into a disco, with multicoloured lights pulsing as the crowd sung the huge chorus hook, whilst Square Hammer brought the evening to a close. The crowd went wild as soon as the main keyboard riff was heard, and the song proved to be an opportunity to party with Ghost one last time. It was a perfect way to end the lengthy set, and I cannot imagine that anyone went home disappointed. The setlist was:

Imperium

Kaisarion

Rats

From the Pinnacle to the Pit

Mary on a Cross

Devil Church

Cirice

Hunter's Moon

Faith

Spillways

Ritual

Call Me Little Sunshine

Helvetesfönster

Year Zero

Spöksonat

He Is

Miasma

Mummy Dust

Kiss the Go-Goat

Enter Sandman [Metallica cover]

Dance Macabre

Square Hammer

As much as I enjoyed Ghost's 2019 show in Nottingham, I think that last night's effort in Birmingham was even better. Ghost are really adapting to being an arena-filling act now and, with the excellent new songs from Impera adding to an already impressive discography, the setlist was packed full of melodic anthems. Ghost are here to stay in a big way, and it is great that 12 years on from releasing their debut album the band are soaring - and becoming one of the biggest rock and metal acts in the world. They could easily headline Download going forward, despite the fact that it would upset the aforementioned group of people who moan about the future of festivals, and they would certainly deserve it on the back of last night's showing.