When GHOST‘s “Skeletour” world tour hit the street, PRG (Manufacturing Useful resource Group, LLC),the world’s main supplier of manufacturing options for leisure and dwell occasions, was there to make sure followers acquired the identical jaw-dropping expertise — regardless of which facet of the Atlantic they have been on. Take a look at a video report beneath.
Partnering with manufacturing supervisor Steven Web page and inventive director Tobias Rylander, PRG‘s groups in North America and the U.Ok. labored in lockstep to deliver the daring artistic imaginative and prescient to life. That meant integrating VL800 Vari-Lite fixtures for the unmistakable Nineteen Eighties-inspired look, delivery three ocean containers of substances and reassembling the total rig abroad to make sure each element landed completely.
The size was monumental: 136,000 kilos of rigging, greater than 800 shifting lights forming the band’s iconic “Grucifix” and 400 LED tiles that reworked arenas into gothic cathedrals of sunshine and sound.
This previous August, GHOST accomplished the U.S. leg of the “Skeletour” in help of the group’s sixth studio album, “Skeletá”, which got here out in April. Marking a daring evolution in GHOST‘s dwell performances, the tour was the band’s most theatrical and cinematic manufacturing but. Designed by Rylander and GHOST mastermind Tobias Forge, the tour embraced a grander and extra bold scale than ever earlier than.
The set design was a putting mix of gothic symbolism and brutalist structure, melding the ornate drama of cathedrals with the stark strains of modernist concrete kinds. Impressed by brutalist cathedrals throughout Europe, the stage reworked right into a sanctum of darkish majesty: half sacred temple and half rock coliseum.
On the core of the design was the aforementioned “Grucifix” — GHOST‘s reimagined crucifix impressed by their iconic emblem. Suspended above the band, this colossal construction functioned as each a visible centerpiece and a dynamic lighting rig, casting an ethereal glow over the stage.
Rylander‘s design included sculptural scenic facades on the lighting pods, echoing the textures and verticality of cathedral interiors, additional reinforcing the ecclesiastical themes central to GHOST‘s id.
The lighting leans right into a retro-rock aesthetic, with visible nods to classical QUEEN and VAN HALEN. The tour additionally represented a milestone for the band because it’s the primary time a full-scale video manufacturing led by Rylander and video director Amir Chamdin. With video content material by Inexperienced Wall Designs, the artistic route transcended the bodily stage, evolving into a completely immersive multimedia expertise.
In step with the present’s theatricality, the stage itself had been engineered to carry out as a lot because the artist. A number of elevated efficiency platforms, mechanical lifts, and hid entrances are strategically positioned to accommodate dramatic reveals and character transitions. A residing, respiratory cathedral of efficiency, “Skeletour” redefined the GHOST dwell expertise, the place sacred structure collides with the uncooked power of rock and roll.
Famend for his work throughout dwell music world excursions, style, theatre and artwork installations, Rylander has collaborated with artists corresponding to Beyoncé, THE 1975, Infantile Gambino, Chappell Roan, The XX and FKA Twigs. “Skeletour” marks his first artistic partnership with the Grammy Award-winning band, bringing a brand new dimension to GHOST‘s already-iconic stage presence.
The European leg of GHOST‘s 2025 world tour kicked off on April 15 in Manchester, United Kingdom and concluded on Could 24 in Oslo, Norway. The North American leg of GHOST‘s 2025 tour launched on July 9 in Baltimore, Maryland and wrapped up on August 16 in Houston, Texas.
By the usage of expertise like Yondr, followers are in a position to place their telephones in a pouch that unlocks solely after they depart the no-cell-phone zone. The pouch can be unlocked at particular cellular phone stations contained in the venue.
Telephones, Apple watches and different communication gadgets are positioned within the pouch and sealed utilizing a magnetized lock, which may be opened with an unlocking base.
This previous Could, “Skeletá” landed at place No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 86,000 equal album models earned in america within the LP’s first week of launch. In keeping with Billboard, 89% of that determine (77,000) consisted of conventional album gross sales, with vinyl purchases accounting for over 44,000 copies. Notably, “Skeletá” was the primary exhausting rock album to succeed in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 since AC/DC‘s “Energy Up” in 2020.
The music video for the LP’s first single, “Satanized”, launched the brand new character who’s fronting GHOST for its 2025 touring cycle: Papa V Perpetua.
Forge carried out as a “new” Papa Emeritus on every of the band’s first three LPs, with every model of Papa changing the one which got here earlier than it. Papa Emeritus III was retired in favor of Cardinal Copia earlier than the discharge of 2018’s “Prequelle”. In March 2020, at ultimate present of GHOST‘s “Prequelle” tour in Mexico Metropolis, Mexico, the band formally launched Papa Emeritus IV, the character who fronted the act for its “Impera” (2022) album section.
