I remember exactly what I felt when I heard that Ghost is finally coming to town, and the announcement happened around my birthday.

When I first heard about Ghost I immediately fell in love, their sounding is just so catchy and when I checked their live performances then I immediately knew that I want to see them live as soon as possible! But my spouse, Péter doesn’t fall in love easily and to be honest, when I first showed him Ghost he didn’t become a fan at all. But the story twisted when he found a recommended video on YouTube account and it was actually a Ghost concert. After that experience, he started listening to Ghost on a daily basis and soon after that he started telling me “WE HAVE TO SEE THEM!” So it wasn’t a question that we will be there! And there’s another twist in the story: however, we were desperate to see them, I was so busy and I haven’t accredited Péter in time, so that’s the reason why you can see that low-quality pictures, because I…messed up. 🤦🏻‍♀️So that’s totally my fault. I am an amateur, right? 🙄

We arrived at the venue 30 minutes prior to the door opening. It was so cold, but it didn’t bother us and the other hundreds of people who were also waiting in line. Luckily we caught a pretty good place around the fourth-fifth row. The opening band was Tribulation. I honestly don’t understand why I haven’t listened to them before, and why I haven’t seen them live? They are just incredibly magical, and after one of our followers wrote a DM on Instagram I realized: I almost saw them in Gothenburg back at the beginning of 2018 (when they were on tour with Arch Enemy) but we weren’t able to see them because when they were on stage we had an interview appointment. That is what I call bad luck.

But let’s get back to the Budapest gig: I think they were just a perfect match for this tour, even though they play a different kind of music but it was a perfect fit for Ghost. When I turned around I saw only happy and satisfied faces, I even thought that some people bought their tickets just because of Tribulation. And hell yeah, this band really deserves the attention and appreciation and I honestly can’t wait to see them again as soon as possible!

Setlist: 

1) Nightbound
2) Melancholia
3) The Lament
4) The World
5) Cries From the Underworld
6) The Motherhood of God
7) Strange Gateways Beckon

The other support act was All Them Witches… Oh, mamma mia! I hate writing negative criticism of a band, because I’m sure that they are following their passion and love, and I’m also sure that they put so much energy and work into their music but… It just didn’t work. I have never been as bored as I was when they were on stage. It was a huge downfall after Tribulation.

But then… Oh yeah, Ghost! They are one of the best live bands currently! Tobias Forge and the team behind (and within) Ghost is full of genius professionals. The whole show was perfectly built up from the first second till the last one. It was spectacular, precise and fantastic! To be honest I was a bit worried that I expect too much and I will be disappointed but luckily this wasn’t the case. Ghost is just beyond all expectations. It’s really hard to emphasize one moment from that almost two hours show, and I’m not gonna do that. But yeah, there was one moment that really stole my heart, and it was the moment when one of the Nameless Ghouls started playing ”Tavaszi szél” which is actually a Hungarian folk song. I know that it was just a part of the show, and it works pretty well since Freddie Mercury sang it back in 1986. So I’m not naive, but still… It touched my heart.

So, here I’d like to mention Tobias’ performance: he is just a great frontman! He is very communicative, funny and also a great actor. I noticed that at the beginning of the show something happened with his microphone and the voice was a bit off, but it didn’t bother him at all, he just went on and the technical issues had just a very small impact on the band’s performance and the audience’s experience (and luckily after a few minutes the issues have been solved, so it wasn’t tragic at all). Actually, I couldn’t write a lot about the show, because these 2 hours just flew by. Every moment had its special feeling, Tobias changed clothes at least 3 times, the old Papa Nihil played his solo on saxophone… The concert had just a great Friday feeling! Such a shame that next year they are not planning any concerts so I have to wait until 2021 if I want to see them again… But they deserve my patience!

Setlist:

1) Ashes
2) Rats
3) Absolution
4) Faith
5) Mary on a Cross
6) Devil Church (followed by a guitar battle, including “Tavaszi szél vizet áraszt” )
7) Cirice
8) Miasma (Papa Sax Solo)
9) Ghuleh/Zombie Queen
10) Helvetesfönster (abridged)
11) Spirit
12) From the Pinnacle to the Pit
13) Ritual
14) Satan Prayer
15) Year Zero
16) Spöksonat
17) He Is
18) Mummy Dust
19) Kiss the Go-Goat
20) Dance Macabre
21) Square Hammer

Special thanks to Live Nation Hungary