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Papa V Perpetua London O2, 19th April 2025

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📷 Jennifer Mccord

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Birmingham

John McMurtrie

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Have you been able to find any photos close up? everything I have seen is at a distance, lots of blurry photos!

From what a photographer who went to the Birmingham show has said is that pro photographers have to shoot from the mixing desk, no one is allowed upfront other than Ryan.

Whether that was just one show or is for the entire tour I don't know but the lack of close up photos seems to confirm it.

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Birmingham

Tim Finch - The Razors Edge

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London

Burak Cingi

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Metal’s messiah has officially returned - and his name is Tobias Forge.

Walking into the light, a robed, long-haired man steps out from his seat, arms-outstretched to the crowd before him, sparking a deafening round of applause. ‘Jesus has returned!’ shouts a corpse-painted nun. On this (un)holiest of Easter weekends, the O2 arena finds itself transformed into a biblical fever dream, as throngs of vestment-clad glitter-covered devotees await the arrival of their true idol of worship, Tobias Forge, the frontman of visionary occult party-rockers Ghost.

It’s been three years since the clergy’s last “ritual” in London, with 2022’s critically-acclaimed album Impera heralding their previous tour cycle. Now ushering in a new era - one manifested by a metallic new wardrobe and plenty of purple - unlike their last appearance here, tonight’s performance arrives unusually ahead of the release of their latest offering, Skeletá, giving fans the rare chance to experience multiple new tracks before the rest of the world.

That sense of exclusivity is amplified by the evening’s phone ban, which sees fans forced to lock away their devices in sealed Yondr pouches. Though it certainly feels like a dystopian move - can’t we really just ask gig-goers to abstain from filming? - the payoff is undeniably worthwhile.

Undistracted by the tempt to film, the room buzzes with transfixed glee, as Ghost open the set with the entirely new Peacefield, a glossy 80s-coded anthem that lands somewhere between Journey and Kiss. Expanding on the retro tenor is the recently-released Lachryma, Forge decorating the fist-pulling ballad with actorly poses and marvellously camp crooning. Later, Skeletá’s first single Satanized arrives with its galloping offbeat riff, initiating larger movement from the audience, before its lovably ridiculous chorus ignites crucifix-like stances and joyous exclamations of 'blasphemy, heresy!'. The final new track, Umbra, is utterly synth-drenched and neon-coloured, the venue’s lights casting the stage in a deep purple hue to match.

Coupled with the band’s new look - the nameless ghouls forming a troupe of bejewelled top-hatted skeletons and Forge evoking some kind of modern-day, satin-suited reiteration of Death, and the Skeletá era already feels a lot slicker, even sexier. The set is also mostly kept minimal, Ghost’s logo fixed above the stage in an arrangement of lights, before inflated church pillars and digital stain glass windows portray epic, evangelical scenes that further emphasise the religious and ritzy mood.

For most of the set, Ghost dip into their older, heavier hymnals, the majority of songs played from Meliora such as Cirice, Mummy Dust, He Is, Majesty, Devil Church and Spirit, their darker, doomier natures filling the arena with thunderous drum thumps and booming bass lines that feel as though their vibrating deep into your bones.

Meanwhile, Forge flaunts around the stage, skipping and rocking, his devilishly thespian bravado an ever-transfixing sight, as confetti and bursts of air explode out for that final theatrical punch on closing songs Mary On A Cross, Dance Macabre and Square Hammer.

Though the night was missing most songs from the much-loved Impera, with the upcoming Skeletá album seemingly carrying on its 80s vein, Ghost are band that needn't rely on the excitement of newer releases or fan-filmed footage on social media. Instead, they’ve created a sacred - and superbly-fun - world of their own, one run by its own rules and enchanting lore, and after performances like tonight, it feels like a privilege just to be let inside.

Metal’s messiah has officially returned - and his name is Tobias Forge.

Ghost setlist: O2 Arena, London – April 19, 2025

Peacefield Lachryma Spirit Faith Majesty The Future Is A Foreign Land Devil Church Cirice Darkness At The Heart Of My Love Satanized Ritual Umbra Year Zero He Is Rats Kiss the Go-Goat Mummy Dust Monstrance Clock

Encore: Mary on a Cross Dance Macabre Square Hammer

Metal Hammer

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Papa Perpetua V celebrating a sold out show in London

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Ghost Wrote Rock History in Manchester – And This Is Just the Beginning

In my humble opinion, on April 15th, 2025, Ghost wrote new pages of rock history during the first show of their new Skeletour tour. They made history, carried out a kind of revolution, if you will. How and why, and what I’m even talking about here, might not be immediately clear.

Maybe it’s too soon. But the scope of what we witnessed yesterday—or rather, what we didn’t witness—could fundamentally change things and be a real game changer in the rock music business and rock culture in general. You can read the basic outline of what happened in Manchester in the text below or watch the video on our YouTube page. This is something people will be talking about for a long time…

April 15th, Manchester – Ghost did what most bands wouldn’t dare.

No phones allowed. You read that right. Zero. Nada. Locked away.

What happened? Magic. Real connection. Actual energy in the air.

People weren’t filming. They were feeling.

It was a gig like it used to be—sweaty, loud, eyes wide open.

Ghoulbangers Ball show on the hoirizon

No more crappy fan footage.

Live reviews mean something again.

Pro photos are gold now—rare, raw, powerful.

Fans walking out said they’d never felt anything like it.

This wasn’t just a concert. It was a f***ing reset.

Ghost made history last night.

And maybe—just maybe—the future of live music got saved.

Junkyard Stories

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Allan Maxwell

Glasgow

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Colin Hart Photography

London

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Adam Hampton-Matthews for Rolling Stone

Glasgow

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Ryan Chang for Kerrang

Manchester

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Tobias Forge

Rolling Stone Magazine UK

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I can never run, and I cannot hide

Ghost - Lachryma (2025)