With the magnificent album “Impera” in their luggage, the Swedish performance hard rockers Ghost came to the Wiener Stadthalle for the first time. Only around 3,000 let themselves be carried away by the fire and effect-packed show by mastermind Tobias Forge, who is slowly but surely working his way up to become one of the most important entertainers in modern rock culture. Hits paired with entertainment and a lot of irony – plus a current interview with the band boss shortly before the concert.
First place in the Austrian album charts, respectable streaming numbers and sprawling, detailed live shows – the Swedes Ghost have sometimes recovered the fastest from the shock of the pandemic and played in the USA with Volbeat in front of more than 10,000 fans per evening on average. On their long-awaited headlining tour in Europe, the engine falters a bit, but around 3,000 lovers of bombastic rock with pop appeal and entertainment found their way to the Wiener Stadthalle on the first summer day of the year. There the Californian couple Alexandra and Zachary James aka Twin Temple heated up the crowd with their “satanic orgy”, lots of dark magic and even more love for rock’n’roll and doo-wop of the 50s. Uncle Acid And The Dead Beats delivered rougher and more original, but of course the crowd really got going with Tobias Forge and his futuristic masked ghouls. The mixture of comedic elements, stylish self-irony, hard riffs, ABBAesque pop melodies and the unerring sense for Mastermind Forge has perfected an audio-visually uplifting arena show over the years so that although the element of surprise has been lost a bit, the professionalism of what is presented can still compete with the really greats. Pyro effects in the classic “Year Zero”, an Alice Cooper-like rain of money in “Mummy Dust” or paralyzing light shows throughout the almost two-hour set proved that the homage to the live shows of the greats of yore became flesh and blood with Ghost. A little more material from the new masterpiece “Impera” would have been good for the band, the Metallica cover “Enter Sandman” was rather unnecessary and only a highlight for narrow-minded nostalgics. Show, singing, sound and joy of playing beyond all doubt. Before the dark mass, Forge granted us an audience for a talk about role models, sacrifices and methods of upbringing. “Krone”: Tobias, your shows are getting bigger and more bombastic from tour to tour. You are a huge fan of big concerts and rock spectacles yourself. Which stage settings excited and inspired you? Tobias Forge: Those of many bands from the 70s and 80s. The arena rock of the ’60s and ’70s wasn’t that exciting live, but the ’80s surpassed it all. The Beatles still played club shows in front of a few people, but the live business with the Rolling Stones in the USA really got big at the end of the 60s. Pink Floyd started to push the boundaries and in the 80’s the stages got bombastic. My main source of inspiration was the Rolling Stones in 1989 and 1990. But also Metallica on the “…And Justice For All” and the “Black Album” tours. Iron Maiden also did great things on the Powerslave and Live After Death tours. Our show with Ghost is more of a tribute to the pompous shows of the 80’s. People’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. Do you also consider that when you think about a live setting? In terms of playing time or set design? I’ve noticed that in myself. In the early 90’s Guns N’ Roses were on stage for about four hours. In 1992 they played pretty much everything they ever put out, plus tons of cover songs. It’s important to make the show as interesting as possible and when I see Guns N’ Roses today, three hours is a lot. They throw out hit after hit and despite everything you eventually lose interest. If I imagine myself as an 18-year-old today, I couldn’t follow the long set. People’s attention spans are generally declining. You have to make the dramaturgy of a concert more immediate and direct. Draw people into the story immediately. I think about that a lot. A few years ago we did the “An Evening With…” tour where we played a little over an hour and then after a half hour break just under an hour. All together it was about 150 minutes and including the break it was just too much. Even loyal fans told me afterwards that we should keep it a little tighter. We’re currently playing a best-of with a few new songs. In an interview you praised Def Leppard’s songwriting on the “Hysteria” album. On the one hand because the songs have complex structures, on the other hand they are still catchy. Is that the right mix for a ghost song and does that benefit people’s shortened attention spans? Easy listening with aspiration? Dangerous terrain! Easy listening is a very vague term, because it has completely negative connotations for music collectors and music freaks, but others can relate to it very well. The Ramones have a simple standard. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus. Def Leppard composed very unconventionally in the 80s. They’ve made giant strides in songwriting in a very short amount of time. Everyone knows the chorus of “Pour Some Sugar On Me”, but only the real fans remember the other parts of the song, two or three riffs before and after. This richness and versatility have always impressed me. “Hysteria” is an incredibly complex album, but it sounds so light-footed. There are few people in the music business who have the work ethic you do. You are involved and in charge of everything at Ghost, from the songs to the stage setting and outfit to the tour schedule. You take the time for interviews on every concert day and during a US tour you constantly answered questions about Europe about the new album “Impera”. Does it sometimes get too much? I do everything with conscious intervals. When we played the big halls in the US, it was still the dead of winter and the Covid restrictions were much tougher. We had an agreement with the second headliner band Volbeat that we would not meet if possible and that the crews would be cut off from each other. You could only stay inside, rehearse and train. It was a bit like being in prison and it wasn’t always easy for the mental component. In order to get any sun at all, you had to stand by a window and consciously soak it up – if it was even there, because there were snowstorms and fog on many days. After a few days without sun and with two hours of interviews at a time, I became increasingly angry. This kind of life made me very tired and I became restless and unsatisfied. Now in Europe everything is different. The restrictions are almost gone, summer is coming and everyone is happy to be able to participate again or to see a great show. The vibe is pleasant. It’s not a big problem to do a few interviews alongside the show. What sacrifices did you have to make for the career with Ghost, which has been on the rise for years but takes an immense amount of time and energy? It’s always a matter of perspective . I have a wife and two children and of course if you don’t see them for a long time you make sacrifices. But we all also benefit from the advantages that Ghost brings. I’ve been at home with my family for two years now and I’ve spent a lot of time with them. I’ll be back home in a week and a half and then with my family for most of the summer. I have a lot more time with everyone than most other fathers. Depends on whether you see the glass as half full or half empty, but at home I like to emphasize that overall I get to spend even more time with everyone than others can. One of my kids once said I was like a visitor. That scared me a bit. It wasn’t meant in a bad way, but that’s how it got stuck in the child. When you’re on tour, a lot of things are exaggerated. However, if you’re really good friends with someone and haven’t had anything to do with them in seven years, the moment you see them, it’ll work again. I’ve known a lot of people for ages who are still extremely good friends, even if we only see each other every three years because we live far apart or because I’m on tour. There are also a few people who hate me because I’m successful. There was never a fight, never a problem, but they just don’t like me anymore. Suddenly you were never friends. That’s a sacrifice I can’t help. I was presented with a fait accompli. I guess that’s part of growing up. Everyone does their thing, everyone has children and families. Even when you’re not travelling, friendships drift apart. With Ghost you can always keep the naivety and innocence of childhood. Basically, you’re doing a role-playing game and entertaining people. That’s not how adult insurance agents live… That’s what makes an artist. You get a license to release your most original child into freedom again and again. If you read through rock ‘n’ roll biographies, almost all of the good and funny stories are about musicians who act like eleven year olds. In school, and maybe even in our 20s, most of us experienced the same thing. One asks what we want to do and do with our lives. We should stop dreaming and chasing idols and live solid lives. I was extremely unsuccessful as a musician. Before my 29th birthday, I didn’t earn a single euro from music that stayed in my pocket. I’ll never forget those many years of failure. Today I’m encouraged to not take responsibility, just keep going and dream as much as possible. But it also needs the necessary work ethic that we talked about. For years you work towards becoming a professional and being successful. You read and learn from the best and of course you take the chance when it’s given to you. You do everything that is possible. But I’m not 20 anymore and I don’t have a drinking problem. I’m in the middle of life and don’t take anything for granted. It may not always go that way, so you have to seize the momentum. If I had had this chance 20 years ago, I might have ruined it. Of course, parents always worry about their children’s future. Would you advise your two children to follow their dreams, no matter how unrealistic they may seem? At least I wouldn’t advise them against it. I would prepare them very realistically and encourage them to pursue their dreams, but it’s important to put a lot of energy and diligence into it. This applies to everything in life. If you want to be a good boxer, practice boxing. You can’t become a professional soccer player without constantly and permanently working on yourself. I spend a lot of time dreaming, but I spend even more time just working on things. By the time my kids were about 14, I was already playing in local bands. What differentiates me and my children is the way they grew up. My parents didn’t have much money. We have always been rich in culture, but great leaps were not possible. My children grow up without any financial worries, but it is all the more important to me to make them understand that money is great, but not something that can be taken for granted. And that there are other things in life that count. Luckily my kids are very smart and understand that. I don’t want to end up with kids who sit back and have no motivation in life because their dad brings the money home. The kids can do whatever they want, but they should do something about it and not sit around. A few wrong decisions and all the money is gone. This should never be relied on forever.
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