Triumphal mass for Ghost at the Accor Arena
- Eden Bisiot
- May 22
- 5 min read
The announcement was made. On 13 May, the Accor Arena was to welcome one of the most emblematic bands on the religiously rock scene to its historic home. As luck would have it, I was able to get there as press to admire this show that was as majestic as it was eccentric.
I arrived in the queue in the stands at around 6.45pm, to find a crowd of fans with neat looks and costumes. It was more like a fashion show than a concert entrance. As we passed through the first doors, our phones were put into fabric pouches, to ensure that everyone enjoyed the experience and lived in the moment, ‘right here, right now’. It was a fairly quick entrance, especially compared to previous shows where the organisational problems were (I think) down to the venue itself and not the band's team.
Once I'd settled into my seat, I was worried that it was going to be a long wait with no technology to keep me occupied, or even the time to find out when this eagerly-awaited show was going to start. But I was pleasantly surprised to see a crowd interacting, people talking to each other, getting to know each other, having fun. I even spotted two fans in the O balcony dancing their Papa Emeritus IV plushies, drawing the whole pit into their little dance.
Every time the lights went up, every time the curtains were drawn, the crowd started screaming. But it was when the lights went down that the crowd went wild.
It was with Peacefield that the long-awaited band took to the stage, to the raucous delight of their fans. After a few verses, the curtains parted to reveal a stage set-up as sublime as it was surprising: light effects like no other, a stage showcasing each of the musicians without neglecting a single one, light bars forming the well-known cross of the Ghost logo at an angle just above them... What amazing elements to start a show with, but the best part is that we weren't at the end of our surprises.
From the very first track, the man we now know as Papa Perpetua launched into a perfectly French "Paris, que la fête commence !" ("Paris, let's get this party started").
The set design had more than one trick up its sleeve: fireworks, flames, a church with the devil appearing in the stained glass windows, a display at the back of the stage on Devil Church and then disappearing on Kiss The Go-Goat... The list of surprises is so long, the show lives up to its reputation!
No cracks from the musicians, each delivering an energy as communicative as it is admirable, even for our ghoul guitarist with a splinted foot! The looks being more than polished, this splint will be painted in the colors of his costume to complete the skeleton leg. Every musician on this tour has been given a bespoke costume, but Papa Perpetua has the most, even putting on a marvellous show during Call Me Little Sunshine, when he's at the back of the stage, in the air, wearing a cope and mitre as colourful as they are gilded. At this very moment, the Pope rules the stage, leading it from on high, showing us all the power not just of the band, but of a lore, of the music itself on a devoted audience. A similar but slightly less imposing costume was used for Year Zero, where the band leader slalomed between pyrotechnics and fireworks, much to the delight of the fans.
But if the costumes were just as fabulous on stage, ticket-holders didn't go without either! During Kiss The Go-Goat, a more than devoted fan in the stands pulled out his best goatee mask, dancing to the beat of the drums in an offbeat but much appreciated sense of humor, while the band's pope blew kisses all over the room.
And speaking of humor, let's go back for a moment to the song Rats, during which a fan in the front row threw a small stuffed toy of Rémi, hero of the cartoon Ratatouille, and French representative of his species, much to the amusement of Papa Perpetua, who played with it for a few seconds before giving it back.
The ghouls also enjoyed playing with the audience, making one side scream, then the other, then all together. It's a well-known game, but one that's always a crowd-pleaser!
The fact that I didn't have a cell phone at hand allowed me to see something I'd never seen at a concert in my life (and yet, I've got quite a few to my credit): lighters in the air, dozens of them, instead of flashlights. Pure, unadulterated rock'n'roll of the kind you don't see any more, but which is so characteristic of concerts of this genre.
After a confetti release concluding Mummy Dust, Papa Perpetua addressed the audience, announcing the final song of the evening:
“I know you guys have probably something else to do, it’s tuesday night and you’re here. You guys have shit to do, stuff to eat, wine to drink. [...] We’re almost done but when you come back home, you can tell everyone how fucking great it was to have fun with Ghost !”
He then thanked the crowd with a “Thank you for being so nice!”, explaining that it was his first time in Paris and expressing his gratitude for the band's support over the years, before moving on to Monstrance Clock, on which the band left the stage on repetition of the chorus, covered by thunderous applause.
After a standing ovation from the sold-out audience, the Pope and his ghouls return to the stage, with a speech as humorous as it is precious :
“It’s always like this, huh ? They leave, you applause and they come back and play. Predictable, isn’t it ? [...] Usually, they keep the best songs for the end. But we already played all our good songs. So now, we’re gonna play our most shitty songs !”
“It is ORIGINAL”, he said in a well-executed French accent, before announcing that it was all a joke and that they'd saved the best for last. The encores included Mary On A Cross, Dance Macabre and Square Hammer, the closing track of the film 'Ghost: Rite Here Rite Now', which announced the arrival of the band's new pope and leader. The band took the time to greet the audience on numerous occasions before leaving the Accor Arena stage.
It's a concert that's hard to recount, so much so that it's an experience to be lived, not read about. The ban on telephones only strengthened the desire to enjoy the moment and experience this concert, which combines unstoppable techniques with an extravagant show, without missing a beat. Anyone who was there that evening will be able to tell you about the beauty of the show, and the pleasure of reliving a concert without distraction.
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