Ghost will play at Brisbane Entertainment Centre on October 7. Tickets: https://premier.ticketek.com.au.
Grammy-winning Swedish rock band Ghost will bring a “satanic” theatrical rock show to Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Saturday.
Ghost are best known in Australia for their goth-pop smash hit, “Mary On A Cross”, which they released in 2019. However, the song didn’t make it to the ears of the masses until last year after going viral on TikTok.
The song made them a household name overnight for tweens and their families globally. And it now boasts more than 440 million monthly Spotify streams.
The Scandanavian black-metal group have an impressive stage prowess. Their members are always dripping in elaborate costumes and religious symbology. And their ravenous fans lap up and worship all their spellbinding glory.
But don’t let their macabre theatrics have you thinking Ghost is something like Marilyn Manson. Sacrificial antics like drowning puppies on stage (rumours which has always followed Manson) have been swapped for confetti cannons. And dead animals have been switched for rainbow disco lights.
A bit like Marilyn Manson but with a Disney edge
Simply put: Ghost offer a more Disney version of Manson, and more palpable to the younger crowd.
You can expect a psychedelic pop-rock flavour with those heavy paranormal overtones.
Let’s just say it’s a little less doom and gloom, and a bit more cartoonish. And it equates to something a bit more Metallica meets Placebo with a twist of 80s “glam hair”.
Ghost have enamoured and challenged the status quo throughout their career.
The sorcerer crooners cover topics from history and wars to pandemics. And it’s all encased in upbeat rock anthems, and slow power-ballads.
Ghost frontman’s identity relatively unknown until court case

The man behind the mask is lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Tobias Forge, who started the project in 2006.
His identity was unknown to mainstream music lovers until 2017, when he was sued by former band members over royalties.
“We are, at the end of the day, an occult, pop, satanic sort of rock ’n’ roll band. (We’re) meant to entertain a group of people who are already down with that stuff.”
Forge, who is the only original member of the band, plays the character of demonic pope Papa Emeritus IV. He is accompanied by an army of instrumentalists known as Nameless Ghouls.
Photo: Tobias Forge’s transformation into Papa Emeritus IV, by Loudwire.
Ghost songs ‘not about God’ says Forge
Forge says despite popular opinion his songs are not religious. He told the Los Angeles Times: “The lyrics are not about God. They’re about man.”
But that hasn’t stopped die-hard fans from loving his allegoric-soaked music and its themes.
Ghost now generates more than nine million monthly listeners on Spotify. And they have snapped up major awards such as Breakthrough Band at the 2012 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards.
They event scored a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2016 with single, “Cirice”.
New EP puts new spin on songs including Tina Turner
Ghost will be armed with five full-length albums and multiple EPs including, Phantomime, released in May. The EP brandishes fresh tracks which put spins on songs by Television, Genesis, The Stranglers, Iron Maiden and Tina Turner.
Phantomime bridges the glistening foundations of the group’s internationally chart-topping 2022 album, Impera. The record debuted at number one in a sweep of the US music album charts.
With an entire musical catalogue now in command of well over a billion streams, Ghost is a must-see spectacle. With a hulking, yet glamorous sonic output, they bring an expertly-crafted, otherworldly pantomime to the modern stage of music.
Ghost play at Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Melaleuca Drive, Boondall, on Saturday, October 7. Tickets: https://premier.ticketek.com.au.
Feature photo credit: https://www.latimes.com.
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