Kicking off their US dates for the Re-Imperatour, Swedish band Ghost arrived at the Concord Pavilion to a packed venue. Their first show in the area in 5 years brought fans from all over, dressed with face paint, robes, and a lot of black.

Opening the evening’s show was Amon Amarth, taking command of the stage with their brand of Viking Medal. Searing guitars, pumping fists and even Viking sword battles, as singer Johan Hegg prowled the stage in a call to arms. The Swedish band is on the road to promote their newest record, The Great Heathen Army.

AMON AMARTH – CONCORD PAVILION. PHOTOS BY CLAY LANCASTER (claylancaster.com)

With a curtain raised between sets and the lights out, Ghost’s “Imperium” began to play as the crowd barely contained their excitement – screaming wildly every time a shadow moved on stage. Ghost then took to the stage with “Kaisarion” from their 2022 album IMPERA.

The audience cheer was deafening, and fans piled into the front rail screamed along to every word as Tobais Forge (going by stage name Papa Emeritus IV) strutted back and forth amongst his nameless ghouls, sporting a new golden coat.

Ghost’s setlist consisted of almost 20 songs, filling about 2 hours of wailing guitars and soaring synthesizers. The cathedral stage all too appropriate for the congregation that eagerly awaited and sang each track (a fairly wide selection of songs from the Ghost discography (pulling most-heavily from IMPERA and MELIORA, understandably).

Gallery and setlist below. All photos by Clay Lancaster (claylancaster.com)

A massive evening of epic metal for various tastes. Concord is only the beginning of the US tour dates, which wrap up on September 12 in Los Angeles. Amon Amarth and Ghost both came out swinging right from the gate.

GHOST Setlist:

1. Kaisarion
2. Rats
3. From the Pinnacle to the Pit
4. Spillways
5. Cirice
6. Absolution
7. Ritual
8. Call Me Little Sunshine
9. Con Clavi Con Dio
10. Watcher in the Sky
11. Year Zero
12. He Is
13. Miasma
14. Mary on a Cross
15. Mummy Dust
16. Respite on the Spitalfields
17. Kiss the Go-Goat
18. Dance Macabre
19. Square Hammer