Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2022
City: Peoria, IL
Venue: Peoria Civic Center Arena
Opener(s): Spiritbox, Mastodon
Headliner: Ghost
Spiritbox Setlist:
Circle With Me
Hurt You
Yellowjacket
Holy Roller
Rotoscope
Hysteria
Mastodon Setlist:
Pain With An Anchor
Crystal Skull
Megalodon
The Crux
Teardrinker
Bladecatcher
Black Tongue
The Czar
Pushing The Tides
More Than I Could Chew
Mother Puncher
Ghost Setlist:
Kaisarion
Rats
Faith
Spillways
Devil Church
Cirice
Griftwood
Hunter’s Moon
Ritual
Call Me Little Sunshine
Con Clavi Con Dio
Prime Mover
Watcher In The Sky
Year Zero
He Is
Miasma
Mary On A Cross
Mummy Dust
Dance Macabre
Square Hammer
Notes:
- First time seeing all three bands on the bill.
- The deceased Papa Nihil was resurrected to play saxophone on “Miasma.”
- Show #7 at this venue; first since February 15, 2020.
Videos:
Review:
That damn Jimmy Kimmel.
It was Garbage’s appearance on his show in June 2016 that was the catalyst for them becoming one of my favorite bands. Sure, I had known of them since their debut album in 1995 and even had their greatest hits album on CD. But seeing them perform a new song on Jimmy Kimmel Live that I quite enjoyed resulted in me streaming their new album Strange Little Birds, and it snowballed from there. I streamed it a few times, downloaded it on iTunes, bought the CD, and then picked up all the rest of the band’s albums on CD. Before I knew it, they had found their way into my top 10 favorite bands… And now reside within the top five.
Fast forward to 2022 and I kept hearing this strange but interesting song on rock radio. The song was “Call Me Little Sunshine” by Ghost, a band I was vaguely familiar with thanks to their 2018 single “Rats.” So when I saw that they would be on JKL, I decided to watch it. And I quite enjoyed the performance.
Not long after that, I read an interview with Tobias Forge, the man behind the mask as the frontman of Ghost. He specifically called out Def Leppard as a huge influence on the band’s new album, Impera, so I got even more curious. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when giving Impera a play via Spotify, and I can’t say the first listen was particularly impressive… But it stuck with me enough that I soon gave it another listen. And then another. And then another.
And then I bought Impera on CD. I was listening to it constantly and loving damn near every minute of it. So of course, history repeated itself and I began to dig into the back catalog and soon picked up the band’s first four albums on CD too. Before I knew it, Ghost had become a regular part of my musical rotation. They hadn’t yet found their way into my top 10 favorite bands, but they were certainly knocking at the door.
History also repeated itself with live shows. By the time I had gone all in on Garbage in 2016, they had already played a show in my area and I missed it. Ghost had done the same thing, having played the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis on February 21, 2022. But that was also a coheadline show with Volbeat, a band I had no interest in seeing (again). Thankfully, Ghost gave me a second chance exactly seven months later by scheduling a headline show in Peoria, IL for September 21.
It was my seventh visit to the venue dating all the way back to 1999, where I saw Def Leppard while standing on a broken ankle for several consecutive hours.
Between that and going to the state basketball championship (which my school lost) in 2002, I have a lot of nostalgia for this arena. And now, I would experience my first Ghost ‘ritual’ here.
The entire floor was standing room only, which I have no interest in at 36 years old. So I picked up some ‘premium’ seats from the venue, which guaranteed my wife and I a great view and a place to rest our mid-30’s backs. By the time the show date rolled around, I was extremely excited to see Ghost live. I had really grown to love their music, though I do lean toward albums three through five more than one and two… But I like them all, enjoying each one more than the last. They have legitimately gotten better with each release, having really hit their stride with 2015’s Meliora and then releasing back to back, top to bottom classics with 2018’s Prequelle and this year’s Impera.
If this was any other year, Impera would be the clear frontrunner for Album Of The Year. But… These poor Swedes just had to release the album during the same year that Def Leppard dropped a modern classic, so it will be an uphill battle no matter how good Impera is.
But before I could enjoy any of Impera or its four predecessors live, I had to endure not one but two opening bands.
The first was Spiritbox, a heavy metal band from Canada that… Was not my thing.
They performed ably for their short, six song set that ended with a song called “Hysteria” (what a coincidence!). But they will not find themselves in my rotation.
They were, however, more entertaining than band number two on the bill, Mastodon. They’re from America and have been around since 2000. They seem to have a pretty decent following but somehow it wasn’t until this year that I found myself at a show with them on the bill. I may have unknowingly heard a song or two of theirs on rock radio over the years, but knew nothing by name.
From what I recall, they ended up having a very old school metal sound, both musically and lyrically. Still, they also will not find themselves in my music rotation as I honestly could not wait for their set to be over. They may have been heavy, but there were no hooks and I was beyond bored by the end of their set. That’s not a slight on them, they’re just not my thing.
Thankfully there would be plenty of hooks and melody to enjoy with the main act. The age of the crowd for concerts I’ve attended through the years has always been interesting. Since my first concerts were Def Leppard and Aerosmith while I was a preteen or teen, I was frequently one of the youngest people at the show. Especially considering that time frame for each of the bands (late 1990’s/early 2000’s). The crowds started to get younger by the mid 2000’s as Def Leppard began to rebuild their fanbase, bringing in many new, young fans. Soon enough, the crowds were getting younger as I was getting older, and it was starting to even out. That has continued and it has been great to see such a nice blend of generations at Lep shows.
I’ve also branched out in who I go to see live over the last 10+ years, with many other classic rock and newer bands mixed together, giving me good mixes of fans at each.
Ghost, being a more ‘recent’ band having released its debut album in 2010, trended on the younger side for bands I’ve seen. And while there were plenty of adult and adult-plus fans in the crowd, a large portion of the crowd was also quite young. And Ghost perhaps is second only to Def Leppard when it comes to fans wearing the band’s merch to shows, as there were Ghost shirts (and costumes) as far as the eye could see. Which boded well for the atmosphere of the show. It felt all-inclusive before the show even started, with everyone eager to share in this experience.
The typical rock music blasting over the PA system before the show was suddenly replaced by classical/church music, which was a bit jarring but made sense within the context of what was about to happen.
When the lights went down and Impera’s intro track “Imperium” started, the place went nuts. Shortly after, the intro riff for “Kaisarion” started, the curtain dropped, and the crowd went even crazier… Especially when Papa Emeritus IV himself emerged.
And so, we were off. The band sounded great musically & vocally and their sound mix was pristine. It was everything I could have hoped for with the added bonus of a massive production and unique presentation.
We were treated to a double dose of Prequelle next, as “Rats” kept the energy going and “Faith” took things onto the heavier side.
Ghost returned to Impera for one of its successful singles, “Spillways,” next.
The band had several chances to shine throughout the night, starting with the short guitar interlude that is “Devil Church.” That led into one of the older mainstays for the band, “Cirice.”
They returned to Impera again for the excellent album cut “Griftwood,” which is one of my favorites on the album. It always takes me back to when I was first listening to the band around the time that Def Leppard was releasing singles ahead of their new album Diamond Star Halos. Two singles had been released at that point, being “Take What You Want” and “Kick.” I had them playing in my car with my wife riding along. When those two songs ended, Ghost’s “Griftwood” came on and she thought it was another new Def Leppard song based on the intro riff. And I see why.
Another newbie, “Hunter’s Moon,” followed before Ghost went all the way back to their debut album for “Ritual,” complete with an extended jam at the end. Two of the ‘ghouls’ on guitar put on a bit of a show to buy time for Papa to change clothes ahead of the next number…
Which in a way, was the song that kicked this whole thing off for me. The song was “Call Me Little Sunshine,” and it was an obvious highlight. The song will always rank highly for me I think.
I discovered this band based on their new stuff and then worked my way back. Coincidentally, if I were to rank their albums from favorite to least favorite, they would go perfectly in reverse-chronological order. Which is why the next two songs, both from the band’s debut Opus Eponymous, were not as enjoyable for me.
But that’s ok, as I’m still in the early stages of my fandom with Ghost. And they treated me to another Impera goodie, “Watcher In The Sky,” next. Which I don’t think has been played very often so I was happy to hear it.
Another classic, “Year Zero,” came next and was followed by a taped version of “Spöksonat” to transition us into the final portion of the set.
“He Is” is yet another song that was an instant favorite as I was going through my exploration of Ghost’s discography and it sounded fantastic live.
“Miasma,” an instrumental, once again put the full band on display. They were even joined by the resurrected Papa Nihil on saxophone.
Apparently Ghost’s 2019 single “Mary On A Cross” has taken on a new life this year thanks to Stranger Things and social media, resulting in the song becoming a huge hit year after it was released. So it went down a storm at this show.
Side note: I started watching Stranger Things when it first started, and watched season two on time. I think I watched season three and haven’t seen a single second of season four. They’re taking too damn long in between seasons. And I don’t have Tik Tok so I’m even farther out of the loop on what the fuck Ghost’s “Mary On A Cross” has to do with anything from the show. But hey, if that gives rock bands a platform to be exposed to the younger masses, so be it.
Things got heavy again with “Mummy Dust” before two massive hits, “Dance Macabre” and “Square Hammer,” closed out the show with confetti covering the entire floor of the arena. The closer was another highlight of the night and a song that has a huge chorus reminiscent of Def Leppard.
If I wasn’t already a big fan of the band based on their recorded work, seeing them live would have solidified it. They were amazing on every level and as soon as the show was over, I could not wait to see them again. Hopefully I’ll get the chance next year.
In the meantime, I had to leave the venue, drive an hour home, and then get to bed so I could be up early as fuck to fly to Los Angeles the day after this show.
Links:
TurnToDust86 