Ghost: The Skeletour Ritual Hits Las Vegas

The casino floor and walkways leading to the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas were filled with a sea of hungry Ghost fans awaiting the ritual to begin. 

For me, the Skeletour World Tour was to be my 4th (or 5th) ritual since my first time seeing them in 2014 at the House of Blues on the Year Zero Tour, which blew me away. Every single show since that I have been in attendance has somehow topped the one prior, and this was no exception. 

The sold out arena was flooded with people dressed up either in the band’s shirts or as a Nameless Ghoul or Papa V himself, ready to dance and sing and praise as the sounds of “Miserere Mei Deus” by Gregorio Allegri filled the air. Ghost tends to set the mood with classic, eerie pieces of music before each show. The only thing missing this time, in comparison to the smaller venues, was the heavy scent of Frankincense and Myrrh hanging in the air like a church prepping for mass. 

The opening chords of “Peacefield” off of the band;s 2025 album Skeletá caused the crowd to erupt in screams of excitement. Until the chorus a black shroud blocked the stage from view, dropping with the thunder of the bass drum. Ghost then continued the exploration of the new record as they broke into the album’s second single “Lachryma”, which when released was played on an endless loop by yours truly.

The newest lead of the band, Papa V Perpetua, commanded the crowd with ease like those before him, donning a top hat. Some folks have made the joke with the reveal of Papa and the Nameless Ghouls’ outfit choices for this incarnation resembling that of the house band from Disney’s Hocus Pocus. Honestly, if that was the inspiration, who cares? It’s incredible and it would be just as tongue in cheek as the band has always been.

After jumping backwards a decade with “Spirit” from 2015’s Meliora, the band went further backwards into 2013 with “Per Aspera ad Inferi” from Infestissumam.

As if the production of this tour wasn’t already incredible visually with the backdrop, sparkles, and costumes from the band; the appearance of Papa V in his full Pope regalia for Impera‘s “Call Me Little Sunshine” was a sight to behold. Many have made commentary that he looks as if he is flying since he is so far off of the ground. I mean… when you have an album and a song that appears to make nods to Aleister Crowley, you have to make a big production of it.

A real to hear was “The Future Is a Foreign Land” from the Rite Here Rite Now motion picture put out by the band in 2024. This is kind of where the show a bit of a turn. Not in a bad way, of course, but one realized that this was not just a setlist of hits or new songs to promote a record, but this show was put together to tell a story.

That being said, I believe that is one of the reasons that no phones are allowed on this tour. There has been some backlash about this decision, and honestly, I wish more bands would consider doing this. It was incredible to not have to watch the show through the person in front of yous screen, or be distracted by your own. There was true connection throughout the performance between the band members and the audience. I found myself being able to shut my brain off and enjoy what was happening in front of me more.

Anyway, back to the story. There were costume changes throughout the performance, pyrotechnics, and lighting changes to really set the mood. This was escalated especially during “Darkness at the Heart of My Love”, probably my favorite track from Impera. This was the point in the show where you saw LIGHTERS in the crowd, and it was beautiful. I had tears in my eyes as I sang my heart out along with the song, not just because of the beauty of the track or the crowd interaction, but to get very personal for a moment, this song hit me like a punch to the gut…

I’ve been covering Ghost since 2014, like I mentioned earlier. This was my first time seeing them since before the pandemic shut down. Towards the end of 2020, we here at ZRockR lost our original photographer, Alex Zayas. He was my Ghost partner. I’d write and he would shoot. I have a photo of Papa Emeritus II that he took at the April 2014 show tattooed on my arm in remembrance of him, and singing “When the Summer dies, severing the ties, I’m with you always” just hit differently live. It was the catharsis that I have been holding in for 5 years. Some people make fun of the band, not really knowing how to classify them. Are they metal? Glam? Pop rock? Arena rock? Ghost is whatever you want to call them musically, but to me, they are extremely personal and the soundtrack that keeps my friend and colleague alive in my heart. Alex would have loved the albums released since Prequelle, and he would have loved photographing this show.

Back to the show…

After shedding tears, it was back to dancing as Papa V led us back to the new record with the first single, “Satanized”. We all reached out and pointed a finger during the chorus’ climax of “BLASPHEMY! HERECY!”

Papa V took a moment to speak with the crowd and reminisce about the House of Blues days and visiting Sin City for 13 years, and he asked us if we were ready to show how sinful we truly were. The crowd went crazy as we really started “church” with a visit to the band’s debut record Opus Eponymous and “Satan Prayer”. “Believe in one God do we; Satan Almighty.” If you really take this shit seriously, you are as twisted as the PMRC was back in the 80s. The assumed “story” continued with “Umbra” and back into “Year Zero”, which is always incredible live. This time though, with the new stage production, and the stage erupting into fire to represent Hell and continuing with “He Is”, it really elevated the evil conveyed lyrically, and Vegas absolutely showed how sinful we can be.

The show began to wind down with the dancey “Kiss the Go-Goat” off of Seven Inches of Satan, ending with Papa V taking the time to blow kisses to each piece of the sold out arena, shushing the other sides not receiving kisses. “Mummy Dust” covered the MGM Grand Arena in fake money, and then came the sad moment where the band began to say goodbye. Ghost has always ended their sets with Infestissumam‘s “Monstrance Clock”. As the band took their bow, the choir of the crowd continued following the words on the screen: “Come together, forever as one”.

The night was not quite over though. We were treated to three encores, “Mary on a Cross”, “Dance Macabre” and Popestar‘s “Square Hammer” closing it all out. Papa V stood at the center of the stage, blowing one final kiss to the crowd, thanking Las Vegas, and mentioning that they can’t wait to come back for more.

Overall, the band sounds as tight, if not tighter than they did when I first saw them back in 2014. The additions of the backing vocals and extra keyboards just fill the band’s sound so much more. There is a maturity that continues the Ghost story and mythos as they continue to pump out records and tours. I do wish they had played something from If You Have Ghosts or Phantomime (their other EPs), or even “Ritual” or “Griftwood” or “Bible”, but like I said… I really think this tour is to tell a story. A story of love, the evil within our own world between politics and humanity that is slowly driving us to Armageddon, and a story of hope at the end of it all. I don’t want to give too much away because I am not sure if this tour will be released on a video or something due to some of the production I was seeing before my eyes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that were a future plan; especially given the success of Rite Here Rite Now. All I can say is, if you have the chance to see this tour, you need to. I can’t wait until the next ritual.

Gallery.

Setlist.

Peacefield
Lachryma
Spirit
Per Aspera ad Inferi
From the Pinnacle to the Pit
Call Me Little Sunshine
The Future Is a Foreign Land
Devil Church
Cirice
Darkness at the Heart of My Love
Satanized
Satan Prayer
Umbra
Year Zero
He Is
Rats
Kiss the Go-Goat
Mummy Dust
Monstrance Clock
Encores:
Mary on a Cross
Dance Macabre
Square Hammer

PHOTO CREDIT: Live photos by Stephanie Muzio for ZRockR Magazine – (c) 2025 – All Rights Reserved.

***EDITOR’S NOTE: First off, I want to say a big Thank You to Ghost’s team for allowing us to cover them once again. This show was beyond amazing, (I personally liked the no phone policy) and it was an emotional one for us too. Stephy, my photographer for the night had always wrote the reviews whenever we covered Ghost previously when they came to town as our founding photographer, Alexander Zayas, always shot the shows. They were the Ghost team of ZRockR. I decided to step aside after giving it some thought and let Stephy write the review of the evening as well instead of me for a number of reasons, not the least being she could do so better I felt. Also, I am sure, after seeing her photos, Alex was there with her in spirit, and whispering in her ear- “ya finally took my job”. That being said…. We truly can not wait for the next ‘Ritual’- SJL – Editor- ZRockR***