GHOST – Brisbane, Australia 7th October 2023
Everyone from kids to mums and dads are dressed up in their finest ghoul paint, nuns’ outfits and whatever gothic-tinged clothing they can find in their wardrobe. Older music fans are there in metal shirts and battle jackets, while other folk are the type of everyday concert goers you’d see at Fleetwood Mac. This is the diverse tribe of people that attend Brisbane Entertainment Centre for the latest live music chapter of Ghost, the heavily costumed occult rock legends from Linköping, Sweden.
Supporting them on this Australian tour is Southeast Desert Metal, a quartet from Ltyentye Apurte, an isolated community some 85km from Alice Springs. Representing the Arrernte people of Central Australia, the band were first witnessed by your reviewer in 2019 at a gig at Ipswich venue Banshees, where they proceeded the blow the roof off the joint.
Even more impressively, tonight they do the same to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre as they entertain the heck out of this much, much larger audience. When a guest vocalist adds harsh vocals and shakes his mane in classic headbanging fashion, the kids in the audience squeal with delight. But the focus is undoubtedly on the four gents in the band, fronted by guitarist/vocalist Chris Wallace.
They deliver a furious set that combines classic metal, death and thrash, specialising in riffs that veer from furious to slow and brutal. Wallace’s voice is a soaring rasp, able to roar with command and provide some melodic relief, particularly in closing song Break The Silence. The likes of Desert Metal (resembling a statement of intent from the band) and The Giant show a band connected to their roots, while simultaneously attracting new fans with their crunching rhythm section and divebombing guitars. At the end of the set, the visibly chuffed band get a selfie taken with the crowd, and exit the stage, leaving us in anticipation for tonight’s headliners.
A large white sheet drops, and Ghost take to the stage with an elaborate cathedral set and frontman Papa Emeritus IV, promoted (according to the Ghost fictional universe) from his previous role as Cardinal Copia, though it is announced this is the last performance from the Papa IV character.
Largely donning a range of jackets (though satanic papal vestments are also worn), he stalks the stage like The Joker, reprimands masked Nameless Ghouls in the band for showing off during guitar solos and basically channels every pantomime villain. He’s in strong voice as well, harmonically backed by two backing vocalists, while guitars, keys, bass and occasional saxophone (courtesy of a temporarily revived Papa Nihil), provide the soundtrack for Ghost’s carnival-esque swirl of metal, psychedelia and catchy pop.
It’s this blending of genres that perhaps attracts such a wide audience – the youthful TikTok crowd are there for the soaring anthemic choruses, the metalheads for the riffs and devilish imagery.
There are plenty of musical highlights, which include the absurdly catchy earworm Rats belted out early in the set. The chugging bass intro and refrain of “it’s a long way down” take us on a supremely tuneful tour of hell in From The Pinnacle To The Pit. The propulsive piano of Spillways is even reminiscent of Toto’s Hold The Line, while the demonic Blue Oyster Cult-flavoured Ritual takes us back to their 2010 debut album Opus Eponymous.
The doomy choral chants at the beginning of Year Zero (“Belial, Behemoth, Beelzebub”) are in keeping with the band’s dark tales of Satan, but as anyone who has seen a Kiss, Black Sabbath or Alice Cooper show can tell you, it’s theatre, no more dedicated to spreading evil than Iron Maiden or Venom before them.
The psych-infused punch of Kiss The Go Goat starts the three-song encore, continuing with Dance Macabre and its irresistible chorus (“Wanna bewitch you in the moonlight”) before closing with the mighty anthem Square Hammer.
The final result is an impeccably staged performance of theatrical rock and roll that revels in the macabre but ultimately just wants to give audiences a good time. Ghost are masters of ambitious, high-concept live shows, but by now have a large, impressive back catalogue of great tunes to back it up. This gig was testament to the ongoing appeal of visually eye-popping stadium rock and one of the most fun concerts I have attended in recent times.
Review: Matt Thrower
Photos: Davey Rintala @fastlanephoto
