A few months ago, I was thrilled to find out that one of my favorite bands, Ghost, released their sixth studio album, Skeletá. The first three singles rocked like never before.
I’ve watched their shows — fans call them “rituals” — twice before. The first was in 2013 at Download Festival in the UK. My second ritual was in Anaheim in 2022 during the Pre-Impera Tour. The difference in production quality and showmanship between those two shows was unbelievably huge. The latter was absolutely one of my favorite shows of all time.
One thing I noticed after watching Ghost is that my jaw would hurt because I couldn’t stop smiling for days after the show. It’s true — a so-called “Satanic” band ironically makes their fans very happy. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one.
Naturally, I was looking forward to when they announced the North American tour supporting Skeletá. To my surprise — though not completely unexpected — they banned phones at their shows. “They,” meaning Tobias Forge, the band’s leader. They first did this during the production of Rite Here Rite Now, where phones were banned and Tobias claimed people had a better show experience.
I don’t think that’s completely true. But it is what it is.
So I decided not to buy a ticket. I even thought maybe it was time to move on from the band, because there was no way I would go to a concert without a phone in my pocket. I take photos and film small parts of the shows I attend. I personally rewatch them months, sometimes years later. It’s my way of preserving some of the best nights of my life.
I’ve documented this situation in a YouTube video — most of the bands I’ve watched were on my wishlist for decades. So when I finally get to see them, I don’t take it for granted. I take a bit of documentation.
On top of that, I use a sensor connected to my iPhone via Bluetooth to monitor my diabetes 24/7. It’s unfortunately a medical necessity.
So that was that. I decided to move on.
Until they released another single, “Umbra.”
Like everything they do, it came with a well-thought-out video — a masterpiece, I’d say — and it made me listen to Skeletá on repeat again. I rewatched Rite Here Rite Now (I own a copy on Apple TV). Then I started looking up footages from the latest tour on YouTube.
I found some. One word to describe it: glorious.
I’d bet that anyone who attended — or any Ghost fan who has watched them live before — would agree. I read somewhere that Tobias might end the tour without bringing it to South America, Japan and Australia like they usually do. That likely means they won’t extend the tour much further. This could be the last chance to see them live for a while.
Given all that, I started to feel like I couldn’t afford to miss this ritual.
Fortunately, I found two upcoming shows in the Los Angeles area: one at Honda Center in Anaheim, where I saw them in 2022, and another at Intuit Dome in Inglewood. I chose Inglewood because the ticket was slightly cheaper. For about the same price as Anaheim, I could get one that included parking. From the StubHub page, the view didn’t look too bad.
So I pulled the trigger.
The day finally came. I arrived early to request an accommodation to keep my phone with me during the show. There was a mishap with the parking ticket I bought from StubHub — the parking attendant told me I had been scammed and that the same spot had been sold to multiple people. He asked me to pay another $30 in cash directly to him, which sounded scammy on its own.
Lesson learned: I won’t buy parking from StubHub again.
As I walked toward the venue, I saw a familiar scene: other fans majority in all black outfits making their way in. Once inside, I realized how massive the place was. The Ghost banners hanging around the building were enormous.
I looked back to 2013 when I first saw them. They played the second stage at Download Festival. They were already known back then, but mostly within a niche. It made sense that they were gaining traction in England, given Sweden’s proximity. But now? They’re playing domes in America. Thousands and thousands of people showing up.
I’m aware that I’m lucky to witness that kind of growth from a band. It’s well deserved.
They provided a way to unlock the phone pouch if I needed to check my glucose levels, but I had to step outside the concert area to open it. That made perfect sense, and I didn’t mind.
It was my first time at Intuit Dome, so I had to ask for directions several times to make sure I reached my seat before the show started. Walking through the VIP entrances, I finally got there. The view wasn’t bad at all. I had seen bootleg footage before — side views can actually be pretty great.
When the curtain dropped after “Peacefield,” the entire stage was revealed. That’s when I realized that the front-of-house center view is still the best. From my seat, I could clearly see one side of the stage — Per Eriksson, Olivia Morreale, and the new keyboardist whose name I missed (update: his name is Tim Cummins). Visually it was fine, but standing aligned with the PA stacks is always ideal. That’s exactly why the FOH mixer is positioned there.
The reinforcement sound felt a bit dull during the first few songs, probably due to my seat location. But after a while, the details came through — the layered production, the Ghoulettes’ high notes, the dynamics.
Lighting and stage presence? Flawless from the beginning.
There were moments when I stopped watching the stage and looked around the dome. That might have been the best part of my seat — I could observe the entire crowd without turning much. I’ve never seen fans so completely immersed. I couldn’t find anyone disengaged.
That’s probably the effect of the no-phone policy. You have no choice but to be present.
I see what Tobias did there.
This wasn’t my first phone-free show — Tool introduced that experience to me in 2019 in San Jose — but this felt different.
They didn’t lean heavily on Impera hits, which surprised me. Aside from “Darkness at the Heart of My Love,” most of the focus was on classics: “Rats,” “Cirice,” “Year Zero,” “He Is,” “Kiss the Go-Goat,” “Mummy Dust,” “Mary on a Cross,” “Dance Macabre,” and “Square Hammer.” Meanwhile, new tracks from Skeletá — “Peacefield,” “Satanized,” “Lachryma,” and “Umbra” — received the loudest cheers.
I stayed for the entire set. I could have stepped out to check my phone, but instead I chewed extra candy to make sure my glucose didn’t dip too low. I skipped my evening diuretics so I wouldn’t have to leave for the restroom.
I didn’t miss a thing.
It was one of the best shows I’ve ever attended.
You can see the stunning production quality in photos — especially those by tour photographer Ryan Chang. But what you can’t fully capture online is the band’s stage presence. The showmanship is on another level. I’ve seen a lot of rock concerts. This is different.
They are highly skilled entertainers — completely comfortable with their instruments and vocals — and they seem to enjoy the night as intense, if not more, as the fans.
It might be my last Ghost show for a while. Tobias has announced a hiatus before eventually (IYKYK) returning to Ghost. What I’ll miss most are the Nameless Ghouls, whom Tobias surprisingly introduced by their real names at the end of the show.
They may appear replaceable on paper, but if you watch them live, you’ll realize each member contributes something essential. Together, they’ve built one of the most anticipated touring rock acts in the United States.
Ghost is dead. Long live Ghost.
