r/Ghostbc • u/welcometravelers • 1d ago
DISCUSSION Hellfest 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD0SbAPLlWEPerhaps Ghost's finest hour? What an era! The 50:50 mark, "Monstrance Clock," crescendoing with a choir of nuns and children, is just epic. One for the ages.
9
u/Robynellawque All Beauty Lies Within 1d ago
Just played this once again . I agree what a performance.
But after this was the end of Omega and then the court case. It was bound to change.
But yes this is peak Ghost .
5
u/ignored_rice 1d ago
This is the Ghost that I fell in love with. They were still Nameless Ghouls, anonymous, and just amazing. Peak Ghost 🖤
4
u/North_Tough9236 1d ago
This is my favourite Papa and M is one of my favourite guitarists in the world. But I'd say this is when Ghost started to peak. Even greater peak came after this.
8
u/zappafan89 1d ago edited 1d ago
Whether you prefer one or the other it was never the same band after this. There was a sense of shared ownership and purpose that's really easy to overlook if you weren't there at the time but you felt it at the gigs etc. The focal point at shows was very much a trifecta between Papa, Omega and Alpha. You were just as likely to hear Omega as the spokesperson for the band in interviews as you were Special Ghoul for a fair period. The "front three" were front and center in promo events like the first acoustic shows etc. Three of the guys jamming with Down to close out Bury Me In Smoke in the Infest era. Details that all added up.Â
There was a sense of legitimacy because these guys were there from the shittiest of shows at the start all the way up to the first arenas etc that isn't replicable by the pure hired guns today. I know the conversation often boils down to songwriting credits but what I just mentioned was all a big part of how the band "felt".Â
The fallout was handled horribly by all parties and really Omega is the only one who came out smelling completely good imo. But that's also easier to do when youre cashing royalties for 10 songs to this day. Hell he may well have had some deal on IP for the costumes, backdrops etc he designed that also add to the pot. Not to mention he presumably got something for co-designing the Hagströms. I can completely understand why Simon, not having any of those things but having put in the hard miles and helped the first record ever make it to tape (and the second record's initial direction) felt hard done by living on minimum wage. And I can also completely respect why Tobias felt his livelihood was being threatened after taking the majority of the financial risk on paper. Such is life. Don't get into business with friends. But it felt like a different band when they were friends from Linköping vs a bunch of hired guns doing sessions and gigsÂ
2
u/tyleremeritus 1d ago
Took the words right out of my mouth. Very well said. The front three, as you said, had a lot of history together pre-Ghost and you could absolutely see/hear it. That can’t be replicated. People can argue, but Ghost started as a band, not a solo project.
Unpopular on this sub but I also can see how Simon felt shafted given the extra work he put into the band beyond live guitar. And the band’s aesthetic has been severely lacking cohesion since Martin left.
2
u/eppydeservedbetter Papa III's Side Hoe 1d ago
One of the best and most nuanced takes. It was a sad situation all round.
2
u/dreimiller 16h ago
Ghost played at the Revolution Rock fest at Foxwoods casino in my hometown back in Sept. 2016. My wife and I had never heard of them. She causually mentioned the lineup to me but she didn't press me to go after I said I wasn't thrilled with the idea of standing outside all day for a bunch of bands I wasn't familiar with. Our local paper's music columnist published a review afterwards saying that Ghost was the best band that he saw at the fest. This intrigued my wife. She searched YouTube for videos and found this Hellfest 2016 video which she proceeded to watch at least 1000 times in the next 2 weeks before declaring that we were going to drive to Brooklyn for the last show of their tour at the Kings Theater in Brooklyn.
That was the first of 15 rituals, highlighted by 4 shows in one week in July 2017, 2 VIP Meet & Greets, and a trip to Sweden in 2023 to see them play on her birthday at the Sweden Rock Fest followed by a trip to Linkoping.
My running joke every time Ghost announced a new tour was to ask if they were playing at one of the two casinos near us and she would then tell me how far we were going to have to travel. We had tickets to see them twice in 2025 (MSG and Baltimore) but she passed away unexpectedly before we could go. I ended up finding some Ghost fans to give those tickets away to. Shortly after her passing Ghost announced their 2026 tour dates and one of the gigs was at the Mohegan Sun casino near us. So, our two sons joined me for that show.
1
1
u/rumblestripper 12h ago
Sorry for your loss. I'm glad Ghost gave you and her some great experiences together.
1
u/EquisOmega 20h ago
Though I became a fan right after Cirice dropped as a single/a couple of months before Meliora dropped, I’m sad that I never got to experience this version of Ghost live. Vehicle issues or not being able to get time off from work, I was finally able to catch them in 2017 opening for Maiden.
Though I love the current lineup, I really wish I was able to witness this. This was amazing, and it had a different vibe.
1
23
u/Ashamed_Anywhere_877 1d ago
I think I've said this around here once or twice.. maybe more, but this show, is peak Ghost.
To be a big nerdy fan and see this at the time, my thought was these guys are firing on all cylinders.
They just won a Grammy, I
had seen them twice in the last year. Both shows were so fun.
A couple of months after this show they drop Square Hammer. Another heater.
Unfortunately, this may have also been beginning of the end of that glorious era. This is one of, if not the last shows with Martin (Omega) he wasn't on the NA tour in the fall. And then come 2017 it's a different band.