There is always a little bit of self pride when you follow a band from their small venue first set of shows with one album to headlining a bigger sized stage in the city. On September, 28th I got that same feeling seeing Ghost headline at the House of Blues in Boston, MA. Purson started off the night with a bang and Ghost closed out the night (almost) flawlessly. This would be my third ritual with The Nameless Ghouls and their leader, Papa Emeritus III, and they are arguably at their best yet.
Purson hit the stage first with their psychedelic rock that got a solid reaction from the Boston crowd. The set consisted of mostly tracks from The Circle and the Blue Door with opening/closing tracks from In the Meantime. A couple of my favorites were ‘Rocking Horse’ , ‘Spiderwood Farm’ , ‘Well Spoiled Machine’ , and ‘Wanted Man’. After this short set, I definitely have my mind on obtaining those two albums.
Then after what felt like forever, the ritual had begun. Ghost took to the stage opening with the first track off of latest release, Meliora, entitled ‘Spirit’. Track staples such as ‘Ritual’ , ‘Con Clavi Con Dio’ , ‘Per Aspera ad Inferi’ , ‘Year Zero’ , and closer/encore, ‘Monstrance Clock’ obviously made the 19-song set list. Other new tracks included ‘From the Pinnacle to the Pit’ , ‘Cirice’ , ‘He Is’ , ‘Mummy Dust’ , and ‘Majesty’. The latter of those tracks actually received an introduction by Papa and he actually spoke to my girlfriend and mentioned that “someone dragged (her) here” which was an equally amazing yet hilarious moment in the show. Another funny moment was Ghost actually messed up the opening to ‘Prime Mover’ and Papa got the crowd to help them through a second attempt. Hey no one is perfect right? We also saw a change in outfits by Papa Emeritus into something a bit more comfortable, but still staying classy. If that surprise was not good enough for the Boston crowd, ‘Jigolo Har Megiddo’ was played acoustically and became quite a catchy sing-a-long. However, nothing lasts forever and Ghost made their leave until the next ritual.
Having first seen this band play with minimal stage props, set list, costumes, and audience, I am proud of this band. A lot of people can only say that Ghost is not original or is a stupid gimmick. And hey, people are entitled to that opinion. Personally, this band is a fresh air for heavy metal which is simply drowning in seas of “same old same old” from many of today’s leading metal bands. It is simple after all because if you have ghosts, you have everything.
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WORDS BY TIM LEDIN
PHOTOS BY MEG LOYAL PHOTOGRAPHY