Ghost Filmed Both Los Angeles Shows for Some Kind of Movie

When it comes to Ghost and their live show, there’s a lot of moving parts. Costume changes, major set pieces, dead members of the clergy coming back to life to jam a sax solo — all things you can expect from one of their gigs. Yet up until this point the band hasn’t released a DVD or Blu-Ray showcasing their unique live experience.

Well as it turns out, they not only filmed the two shows they recently performed in Los Angeles, but they’re using that footage for more than just your run of the mill concert album and film. While speaking with Metal Hammer, frontman and mastermind Tobias Forge revealed that plans for that footage are significantly more involved than a simple live concert release.

“We were essentially shooting a film. And we used two nights of crowds as extras…It’s going to be a film with a concert element. So a lot of what you experienced [at the two LA shows] is going to be part of this project.”

If all this sounds to you like the talking points Metallica used when promoting their ill-fated Through The Never flick, you wouldn’t be the first. When asked by Metal Hammer’s Merlin Alderslade whether that Metallica effort was in the same vein as what Ghost was doing, Forge said it was “in the sense that it’s a concert with something else combined.”

For a long time, Forge has wanted to elevate Ghost’s live presence to become more akin to a major stage production than a metal concert. Each new album cycle gives the band a chance to change up their aesthetics, which is an important aspect of the band’s mystique among fans.

In fact, fans have been speculating that the end of the Re-Imperatour run of shows would end with the death or replacement of Papa Emeritus IV. And while that didn’t happen, maybe this film will be the perfect time to introduce the band’s new look and “Papa.”

Forge said he was nervous leading up to the L.A. shows given their importance to the band and this project.

“When I first started putting it together, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to faint because there’s so much to think about. Then it was, like, ‘No, no, just don’t think about it at all.’”