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GHOST HEADLINES FIRST ARENA SHOW AT THE L.A. FORUM

Ghost’s Cardinal Copia, Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler
GHOST
HEADLINES FIRST ARENA SHOW AT THE L.A. FORUM
Geezer Butler, Robert Trujillo, Jerry Cantrell
 Among the Congregation
New Ghost Single, “Dance Macabre,” Goes to #9
at Mainstream Rock with 18-million U.S. Streams
“…the Swedish hard rockers raised an unholy ruckus at the Forum.” 
— Los Angeles Daily News
LOS ANGELES, CA – MONDAY, November 19, 2018 — Grammy-winning Swedish rockers GHOST headlined its first sold-out arena show at the Los Angeles Forum this past Friday night and brought the house down.  Two-hours-and-40-minutes of rock theatrics and mayhem (a two act-production with a 15-minute intermission) performed on a medieval cathedral-type set with a backdrop of stained glass windows, staircases that went to a variety of levels and platforms, shooting fire, pyro, confetti (or “Mummy dust” as Ghost refers to it), and a lighting design that was just stellar.  The pacing of the show, the musicianship, and the charismatic front man himself, Cardinal Copia, proved to be as funny and charming as he was outrageous.
The congregation for Ghost’s powerful unholy service included members of hard rock royalty: Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler, Metallica’s Robert Yrujillo, Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains, and Avenged Sevenfold’s M Shadows, all big Ghost fans.
Ghost’s new single, “Dance Macabre”moves up to #9 at Mainstream Rock Radio this week with 18-million U.S. streams.  With two more headline arena shows ahead – Place Bell, Laval, QC (12/7) and Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY (12/15), Ghost continues its North American headline tour.  Remaining dates are below.
November
19   Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center, Midland, TX
20   Bass Concert Hall, Austin, TX
21   Orpheum Theatre, New Orleans, LA
23   Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts – Walt Disney Theatre, Orlando, FL
24   The Fillmore at Jackie Gleason Theatre, Miami Beach, FL
25   Ruth Eckert Hall, Clearwater, FL
27   North Charleston Performing Arts Center, North Charleston, SC
29   Saenger Theatre, Mobile, AL
30   Roxy Theatre, Atlanta, GA
December
 1    Florida Theatre, Jacksonville, FL
 2    Ovens Auditorium, Charlotte, NC
 4    Dominion Energy Center, Richmond, VA
 5    F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, Wilkes-Barre, PA
 7    Place Bell, Laval, QC Canada (Montreal)
 8    Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, ON
10   The Hippodrome, Baltimore, MD
11   Tower Theatre, Upper Darby, PA (Philly)
13   Palace Theater, Albany, NY
14   Wang Theatre, Boston, MA
15   Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
*****
ABOUT GHOST
The Swedish-born Tobias Forge, who has been referred to as “the Andrew Lloyd Webber of Rock,” is Ghost’s creative force, singer, songwriter, musician, and architect of the elaborate storylines that are woven through the band’s four full-length studio albums, EPs, music videos, webisodes, and live shows, all of which advance the Ghost storyline.  Forge grew up listening to a wide array of 70s and 80s rock – Alice Cooper, Journey, Kansas, Boston, Black Sabbath, Jefferson Starship, Iron Maiden, and Foreigner.  He’s a hardcore music junkie; at home in Sweden, he has a most impressive collection of vinyl, cassettes, CDs, and VHS tapes, and when on tour, he regularly arranges for visits to local record haunts and ships back even more treasures.  He plays guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and kazoo.  Ghost’s new album, Prequelle, is loosely based on The Black Plague of 14th century Europe, a metaphor Forge hopes will apply to the societal ills of today.
Ghost’s music began as being much heavier, harder and “more metal,” but over the band’s recent history, their songs have evolved to embrace a more catchy, rock sound.  Four of the band’s songs have hit Billboard’s Top 5 Rock chart – “Circe” claimed the #4 spot in 2015, “From The Pinnacle to the Pit” went to #5 in 2016, and both “Square Hammer” (2017) and “Rats” (2018) held the #1 spot on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart.  Ghost’s music retains its rock edge as well as its dark lyrical themes like The Black Plague, the Antichrist, the Inquisition, avarice, and the Apocalypse.  Ghost won a Grammy Award in 2016 for “Cirice” in the category of Best Metal Performance.

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