Blog Post
Ghost, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Twin Temple OVO Hydro, Glasgow 13 April 2022
Len Hoggan • Apr 15, 2022
Live Review
Opening up on the tour are Twin Temple. They’re greeted enthusiastically by the faithful down the front and clearly have developed a following. Their brand of 50s style satanic doo-wop is both at odds (musically) and in keeping (imagery) with the headliners. With just 25 minutes to play with, it felt that their show was as much about the dramatics as the music as they only managed to fit in three songs, bookended by a couple of instrumentals which formed the soundtrack for Alexandra and Zachary’s satanic rituals - which were probably lost on those not close enough to see what was actually going on.
In contrast, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats just got their heads down and cracked on with the tunes. Their stoner, psych rock has no problem filling venues of this size, with the shuffling ‘13 Candles’ and set closer ‘Melody Lane’ being particular highlights.
Few modern rock bands are capable of putting on an arena show as well as Ghost. The grand stage set, spectacular lighting, pyro, flame throwers, confetti cannons, costume changes, a bit of panto - but, most importantly, a wealth of great songs to back it all up.
Opener ‘Kaisarion’ started with a single spotlight casting the shadow of one of Ghost’s guitarists onto the curtain hiding the stage as he played the uplifting intro, before it dropped and the rest of the band joined in, with Papa Emeritus IV (aka Tobias Forge) whipping up the crowd. ‘Rats’ followed and Forge needed little effort to get the crowd to sing along with the chorus.
From the new album we also got, ‘Spillways’ with its ABBA-esque intro, ‘Hunter’s Moon’ and ‘Call Me Little Sunshine’ which was a real highlight. Ghost have an embarrassment of great songs to pull from and we get a brilliant blend of the lighter, more melodic side of the band (such as ‘Dance Macabre’, ‘Mary On A cross’, ‘Ritual’ and the outstanding ballad ‘He Is’) and the heavier side (like ‘Year Zero’, ‘From The Pinnacle To The Pit’, ‘Mummy Dust’ and ‘Faith’).
A number of instrumentals facilitated Forge’s numerous costume changes, with ‘Meliora’ providing one of the most fabulously ridiculous pieces of theatrics you’re likely to see at a rock gig. Papa Nihil, who was killed off at the end of the the ‘Prequelle’ era, was wheeled out in a box then brought back to life using defibrillators, just in time to play the saxophone solo at the end!
All good fun, although it must be said that some of Forge’s between song banter was a bit odd at times. However, he took the time to thank everyone for coming along, especially those who may have been nervous about attending for whatever reason, and to all the venue staff. A nice touch.
Of course, all good things must come to an end and, after encores ‘Enter Sandman’, ‘Dance Macabre’ and the mighty ‘Square Hammer’, the band came together to take a well deserved bow to huge applause.
Gigs this good don’t come around too often.
