Ghost have kicked off their ‘Skeletour’ world tour in Manchester, premiering several new songs in the process – see the full setlist below.
Ahead of the release of their new album ‘Skeleta’ – due out on April 25 via Loma Vista and available for pre-order here – band mastermind and frontman Tobias Forge and co. took over the AO Arena in Manchester to kick off their extensive tour of the UK, Europe and North America last night (April 15).
Due to their implementation of a “phone-free” rule for their 2025 tour – designed to force fans to be present and engage with their live show – footage of the gig is not yet available. However, the tour’s setlist has been revealed, and has seen the premiere of new songs as well as live debuts of several older cuts.
To kick off the ‘Skeleta’ tour with a band, Ghost premiered a new song, ‘Peacefield’, followed by the live debut of their latest single ‘Lachryma’, which they released last week (April 11).
Later on in the show, they performed several songs for the first time since 2019, such as ‘Spirit’ and ‘Majesty’, before the live debut of their 2024 one-off track ‘The Future is a Foreign Land’ released as a tie-in for their debut film Rite Here Rite Now.
They then performed ‘Darkness at the Heart of My Love’ off 2022’s ‘Impera’ and ‘Satanized’, the lead single from the forthcoming ‘Skeleta’ for the first time ever and played the world premiere of their unreleased track ‘Umbra’.
Towards the end of the show, they re-introduced the fan favourite ‘Monstrance Clock’ for the first time since 2019.
Ghost’s ‘Skeleta’ tour setlist in Manchester was:
‘Peacefield’ (world premiere)
‘Lachryma’ (live debut)
‘Spirit’ (first time since 2019)
‘From the Pinnacle to the Pit’
‘Majesty’ (first time since 2019)
‘The Future is a Foreign Land’ (live debut)
‘Devil Church’
‘Cirice’
‘Darkness at the Heart of My Love’ (live debut)
‘Satanized’ (live debut)
‘Ritual’
‘Umbra’ (world premiere)
‘He Is’
‘Rats’
‘Kiss the Go-Goat’
‘Mummy Dust’
‘Monstrance Clock’ (first time since 2019)
‘Mary on a Cross’
‘Dance Macabre’
‘Square Hammer’
Following the AO Arena gig, Ghost will continue on their run of UK and European tour dates. UK dates continue this month and include a show at London’s O2 arena. Check out a full list of dates here and visit here to purchase tickets.
Recently, Tobias Forge spoke to NME as part of the In Conversation series, and explained what he means when he says the LP has an inward-looking approach. “ I’m not a great salesman, but it’s 10 songs of hopefully healing joy,” he said. “The previous record was written as part of a socially-reflective bigger picture. It was about shining a light on society. So when making a new record, I wasn’t enthused by the idea of writing a follow-up or ‘Impera 2’ — I wanted it to be something else.
“I’ve always tried to do something different from the previous one, so this time, I wanted to make a record that was based on introspection.”
He then went on to explain why Ghost are “living proof” that rock isn’t dead, reveal how he has taken inspiration from Black Sabbath, and suggest to NME that the band’s signature lore may be coming to an end in the future.
“I think that there might be an end to the storytelling because it’s not productive to have this endless soap opera. If fans need the lore in order to like the band, then that element will probably be over quite soon,” he said of the latter.
Papa “V” Perpetua will also be appearing as part of the line-up for Black Sabbath’s final ever show in Villa Park, Birmingham on July 5.
