Swedish rockers Ghost have grown exponentially since bursting onto the scene with their 2010 debut, “Opus Eponymous.” The band combines catchy melody and harmonies with classic heavy metal influences and puts on a large, theatrical stage show for its legion of fans.
Ghost devotees often paint their faces and dress up like the band’s singer, Papa Emeritus, but many found themselves in an unfortunate situation during a recent show in St. Louis, Missouri.
Security demanded fans scrub off their face paint before entering the concert venue, which left Papa Emeritus, real name Tobias Forge, angry.
“I was furious. The story that I heard was that it was an initiative taken by some of the security people, who didn’t approve of the band,” Forge said.
“They didn’t like what we were doing so they wanted to be mean to these kids, and those kids were really, really upset with that. They told them it was a band requirement. That was upsetting to me. We would never ask that of our fans. We want them to dress up, we want them to come and have fun.”
“Over the years, I’ve come to understand that a lot of our fanbase are, in one way or another, outsiders or that their lives are lonely or they’re struggling with something. It feels like there’s a lot of hurt among our fanbase, and I want to address that. They’ve found a kind of belonging being in this group of Ghost fans.”
Forge keeps fans guessing about the future of the band, as he changes his stage identity from time to time. Recently, Forge announced that the end was coming for Papa Emeritus IV.
“It’s a big night in so many ways,” said Emeritus IV between songs at the band’s Oct. 5 show in Brisbane, Australia. “I’m going to let you accompany me, you can stay where you are and I’m going to go have a little bit of a drink over here. I know a lot of people are expecting some sort of explosion, implosion, a miracle where I just dissapear in favor of a successor.”
“I’m going to take this ice cube and I’m going to put it down my pants. I usually don’t do that, but that is to make me feel a little bit better because now I’m focusing on that and not on you. Just in case you thought I was pissing myself, which I’m sure would have been the great finale. But you know what? This finale, it’s just going to be my last show, and I’m going to do my best to deliver that show to you and that would just have to be enough, okay?”
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