Ghost – Skeletour AO Arena, Manchester

Review By Phil  Ingham 

The atmosphere in and around the AO Arena in Manchester on 15th April 2025 was one of excited anticipation. This wasn’t just any Ghost gig (or ‘ritual’ as it is better known amongst the Ghost fandom) but the worldwide debut appearance of Tobias Forge’s latest front man iteration, Papa V Perpetua. A new era of Ghost was about to begin right here, right now in Manchester.

Inside the arena, the stage was hidden by suitably gothic, black curtains. As the arena filled up, the standard rock/metal playlist that precedes AO Arena gigs gave way to church organ music and the crowd’s excitement ramped up even further.

There was to be no support act at this show; Ghost weren’t just the main event, but the only event.

Then showtime. The curtains fell to reveal the stage, on which the band’s Nameless Ghouls (the band members, for the uninitiated) were waiting. Papa V Perpetua soon joined them, sending the throng into rapture.

Forge’s alter-ego and his masked band were straight into ‘Peacefield’, a track from the soon-to-be-released album ‘Skeletá’. The song’s unfamiliarity might have been a gamble for any other band as an opener, but the Ghost congregation lapped up the new track as if it were one of the classics.

Next came current single ‘Lachryma’, a tune which slaps a skeletal glove across the faces of the “Ghost aren’t Metal” gatekeepers with its sawing riffage and soaring solo. Another new tune, but despite it only having been out for around a week, there are an impressive number of fans who sing along word-perfectly.

The band then spent some time with the 2015 album ‘Meliora’, with ‘Spirit’, ‘From the Pinnacle to the Pit’ and ‘Majesty’. The first and last of that trilogy haven’t appeared in live shows since 2019 so they were very welcome additions to the set.

The band then launched into the live debut of ‘The Future is a Foreign Land’, the closing track from the 2024 movie-meets-concert ‘Rite Here, Rite Now’. A clear fan favourite, the song’s opening surf-rock riff sent waves of excitement through the arena, marking a standout moment in the set.

If there were any worries that the band may have lost some of the camp theatrics that Papa IV brought to the stage these were soon put at ease; Papa V Perpetua, in a silver half-skull mask, strutted and swaggered around the set with the confidence that all top front men possess.

And what a set. Huge video screens continually transformed the vista, and an impressive lighting rig in the form of the band’s inverted crucifix logo dominated the stage, making for a stage show spectacle beyond anything the band have produced previously.

Setlist regulars ‘Devil’s Church’ and ‘Cirice’ came next as, thanks to the magic of the video screen, the arena became a vast cathedral of worship. The live versions of both songs land significantly heavier than their recorded equivalents, and it is a surprise that the odd pit does not break out amongst the congregation. Perhaps that isn’t behaviour fitting of a church environment, Devil or otherwise.

A brief change of pace followed, with the live debut of ballad ‘Darkness at the Heart of My Love’ which undoubtedly would have been accompanied by thousands of lights from phone torches, had the band not insisted on them being locked away in Yondr pouches before the ritual began. Forge’s vocals really impress here and the crowd reception suggests that this song may well find itself a frequent feature of future performances.

We were treated to another live debut next, as ‘Satanized’ rocked the arena. Already a singalong anthem amongst the crowd, it’s the type of song that Ghost do best.

‘Ritual’, with a riff that Megadeth would be proud of, is next up. Despite being from their first album which is now fifteen years old, the song on the live stage sounds as fresh and exciting as ever. A few of the Ghouls clearly have fun with this one, cavorting around the stage as they shred and earning an impressed nod from Papa V.

From the old to the new, ‘Umbra’ is played next, a song which according to Forge is about “banging”! It is testament to the band that the songs that the crowd are hearing for the first time emit the same response as the more regular anthems. I’m confident everyone in the crowd will have left even more excited for the release of the new album having had the songs teased to them in this gig.

Favourite “Year Zero” lifts the crowd even further, and at this point the band and crowd are as one. Papa V could have set his mic aside and let the masses bring this one home.

There isn’t a huge amount of chat between tunes from Papa V, especially in comparison to the motormouth character that preceded him, but when it comes it is witty and authentic.

Dipping back into ‘Meliora’ for the slow paced ‘He Is’, it is a calm before the storm moment as the band then hit us with three consecutive bangers in ‘Rats’, ‘Kiss the Go-Goat’ and ‘Mummy Dust’, the latter song accompanied by the obligatory spraying of glitter and Ghost dollars into the throng.

The band reward the adoring crowd with a rendition of the wonderfully creepy ‘Monstrance Clock’, another song that hasn’t been played live for six years. The band leave the stage after this ‘final’ song but no one in the crowd is buying that.

Sure enough, after a brief interlude the band return and launch into a perfect exhilarating encore of hits ‘Mary on a Cross’, ‘Dance Macabre’ and ‘Square Hammer’.

As the music ended the band hung around on the stage for some time, seemingly wanting to soak up every bit of applause and adulation that the crowd were more than happy to provide. It was almost as if they had surprised themselves with how well the opening gig had gone.

The show was a two-hour incredible combination of new tunes, setlist staples and lesser played deep cuts. It is some feat that Ghost have put together such a killer setlist that can afford to omit the likes of ‘Spillways’, ‘Call Me Little Sunshine’ and ‘Kaisarion’ and not have it suffer as a result.

The band’s performance was incredibly polished for the first show of the tour, Forge put out an impeccable performance and his army of Ghouls were musically tight and far more than just a backing band for the front man. They were a key element of the exceptional evening that played out to the Manchester crowd.

Ghost aren’t exactly new on the scene, but in Manchester they delivered a show that in terms of scale, quality and spectacle is beyond anything they have done before.

Tonight, Ghost ascended. It was one hell of a ritual.