Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
You could travel to the end of recorded time and rarely come across a moment in which you see a support act on stage which leaves you with the impression that you wish they had more time, not to establish themselves in the eyes of the audience, but to dominate, to dictate terms of your surrender, absolute and unequivocally.
The feeling does happen occasionally, but it is one that arguably doesn’t sit in the gut unless they are a band to which has already had the presence of mind to rule a section of the crowd that has come to pay homage to the main act.
As the Summer of 2019 will inevitably fade and become transparent to memory, Ghost’s appearance as guests and support to Metallica as they devoured the energy thrown off by the crowd at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium will more than linger in the mind of those who saw them take to the stage, it will govern the thought that they are a band that need to be seen again, even in a more intimate setting and away from the vast area that they took readily to.
Tours come and tours go, but for Ghost the opening up of a future on British soil has surely opened up an even greater sense of purpose. Already a crowd favourite, Ghost have got the credibility and the presence to take it further, the wonder of theatre is tied in to such an extent that it resounds the drama of their aural visions, the dynamic in which made them natural supports to Metallica on this leg of the tour.
Across songs such as the opening salvo of Ashes, Rats and Absolution, and through rites of musical sorcery as From The Pinnacle To The Pit, Cirice, Miasma, the tremendous Year Zero and Mummy Dust, Ghost rattled the chains of other’s perceptions and saw that they looked upon them with renewed vigour, a life once more taking shape in the form of performance, a Hamlet raging in the spectacle, a Macbeth unrepentant for what he reveals in his darkest dreams.
A superb and scintillating performance by Ghost, one that requires to be seen again, up close and personal and one that is not confined to the support shade of an outdoor gig.
Ian D. Hall