Imperatour


The Imperatour was a concert tour by the Swedish rock band Ghost in support of their fifth studio album, Impera. Following its announcement on 20 September 2021, the tour began on 25 January 2022 at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada, and concluded at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Australia on 7 October 2023.
The tour featured lead singer Tobias Forge performing under the persona of "Papa Emeritus IV". Since the band's inception, Forge has performed under several incarnations of pope-like personas bearing the title of "Papa Emeritus". For the release of the band's 2018 album Prequelle, as well as their 2018–2020 concert tour A Pale Tour Named Death, Forge performed in the persona of "Cardinal Copia", a character who, at the final show of that tour, was promoted to Papa Emeritus IV. For Imperatour, as with previous tours, Forge was backed by a band of masked musicians known as "Nameless Ghouls".
Imperatour encompassed seven legs: a United States leg co-headlined with the Danish band Volbeat, and featuring Twin Temple as special guests, which spanned from January to March 2022; a European leg featuring Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats and Twin Temple, from April to June; a North American leg, with Mastodon and Spiritbox, from August to September; a second European leg which features a span of headlining and festival performances, from May to July 2023; a second United States leg with Amon Amarth as special guests from August to September; a South American leg in September which was their first time headlining in Brazil, Argentina and Chile, and an Australian leg in October.

Background and overview

On 30 December 2020, Ghost announced that "several big things" were being developed for 2021, indicating new live performances. In September 2021, a United States tour co-headlined with Volbeat and featuring special guests Twin Temple was announced, and would become the first leg of Imperatour, kicking off in January 2022. During the first show, at Reno, Nevada's Reno Events Center on 25 January, Ghost performed "Kaisarion", the second song from their 2022 album Impera, for the first time. Each of the subsequent Imperatour concerts had featured "Kaisarion" as the first song on Ghost's setlist. The show also marked the introduction of new steampunk-inspired costumes worn by the Nameless Ghouls. Volbeat's planned appearance on the third show of the US tour was cancelled when their drummer Jon Larsen tested positive for COVID-19. The first leg of the tour concluded in March 2022 at Anaheim, California's Honda Center.
Ghost headlined the second leg of the tour, which took place in Europe from 9 April to 18 June 2022, supported by Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats and Twin Temple. During Ghost's performance on 9 April, at Manchester's AO Arena, the songs "Spillways" and "Call Me Little Sunshine" made their live debuts. The show on 18 June took place in Clisson, France, as part of the Hellfest music festival. The Hellfest show saw the band's live debut of their song "Griftwood". The show's setlist was cut short due to Forge losing his voice, and concluded with the song "Dance Macabre" rather than the initially planned show closer, "Square Hammer"; after performing "Dance Macabre", Forge thanked the audience and stated, "My voice is completely fucked. I cannot take one other song for you."
The third leg of the tour, spanning the US and Canada, featured Mastodon and Spiritbox as the opening acts; this leg began on 26 August and concluded on 23 September. During Ghost's performance on 26 August, at San Diego's Pechanga Arena, the song "Watcher in the Sky" made its live debut. At the 2 September show at Huntsville, Alabama's Von Braun Center, during a performance of the song "Year Zero", one of the Nameless Ghouls fell from atop a platform; after the concert, Taylor jokingly tweeted, "I meant to do that."
During an interview on 12 September 2022, Forge confirmed that there would be more touring in 2023, with a European leg in the summer hinted in a video. Ghost later announced that they would perform at both the Sweden Rock Festival on 10 June 2023 in Sölvesborg, Sweden and the Tuska Open Air in Helsinki, Finland. The band later announced a third US leg dubbed the "Re-Imperatour" on 13 February 2023, which featured Amon Amarth as special guests. A second show at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles was announced following a video, giving fans speculation that the Papa Emeritus IV character would be "killed off" at the end of the tour. A South American leg was later announced, acknowledging it as their first time headlining in Brazil and Argentina. The band then performed an Australian leg shortly after, which took place in October, concluding the tour in Brisbane, which was Papa Emeritus IV's final performance.
Preceding Ghost's setlist at most stops on the tour are taped recordings of the Jan Johansson composition "Klara stjärnor" and Gregorio Allegri's setting Miserere mei, Deus. The exact setlist for Imperatour has varied, but has consistently utilized "Kaisarion" as an opening number and included songs from each of the band's albums released thus far—Opus Eponymous, Infestissumam, Meliora, Prequelle, and Impera.
The character of Papa Nihil, who was "unceremoniously 'killed off at the final show of the band's previous tour, A Pale Tour Named Death, in 2020, did not appear during any of the concerts in the first leg of Imperatour. However, at the 9 April show in Manchester, the character was wheeled out onto the stage and brought "back to life", performing a saxophone solo during the song "Miasma".

Reception

Reviewing the 14 February 2022 show at Pittsburgh's Petersen Events Center, Scott Mervis of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette praised the band's sound as "somewhere in the zone between Metallica and Blue Öyster Cult" and their flexibility in regards to the genres of their songs, writing that they are "never shy to flash influences, to go from the '60s-scented psych-rock of 'Mary on a Cross' to the Slayer stomp of 'Cirice' to the dreamy pop-metal-prog of 'Hunter's Moon. However, he called the concert "more like a Ghost greatest-hits show" than one in support of the Impera album, concluding: "As great as it all was, Ghost fans of Pittsburgh surely have one plea for the Papa: please return with the whole Impera package."
The Guardians Chris Lord, reviewing the 9 April 2022 show at Manchester's AO Arena, gave the concert a score of five out of five stars. He wrote that, by the second song on the setlist, "Rats", the band "already has a packed arena in raptures," and that Square Hammer' inspires the most frenzied singalong of the night." Of the show's technical aspects and the band members themselves, Lord wrote: "There are confetti cannons, costume changes, flamethrowers and other forms of pyro, but the band is self-aware, preventing proceedings from ever getting too cartoonish. As one of the three guitarists relishes a solo spot on 'From the Pinnacle to the Pit' a little much for his liking, Forge playfully reprimands them with a wagging finger; this is pantomime as much as rock 'n' roll."
Merlin Alderslade of Metal Hammer, also reviewing the Manchester show, wrote that the setlist was "absolutely stacked with songs designed to shake hips", and that, "They may attract their share of haters, but facts are facts: few modern bands in heavy metal know how to put on a massive, arena-worthy show like Ghost."

Film

Footage from the two shows performed at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, on 11 and 12 September 2023 was featured in a concert film titled Rite Here Rite Now, directed by Forge and Alex Ross Perry. The film also includes a narrative story based on a web series produced by Ghost that incorporates fictional characters and lore surrounding the band. The film was released theatrically by Trafalgar Releasing on 20 June 2024.

Set list

Tour dates

DateCityCountryVenueSupport Act
21 May 2023RouenFranceZénith de la Métropole Rouen NormandieSpiritbox
22 May 2023LyonFranceHalle Tony GarnierSpiritbox
23 May 2023ToulouseFranceZenithSpiritbox
Lucifer
25 May 2023RennesFranceLe LibertéSpiritbox
Lucifer
26 May 2023LilleFranceZénith de LilleSpiritbox
Lucifer
28 May 2023StrasbourgFranceZénith de StrasbourgSpiritbox
Lucifer
29 May 2023MilanItalyIppodromo di San SiroDeath SS
Lucifer
30 May 2023NiceFrancePalais NikaïaSpiritbox
Lucifer
1 June 2023BarcelonaSpainParc del Fòrum
3 June 2023NantesFranceZénith Nantes MétropoleLucifer
4 June 2023AmsterdamNetherlandsAFAS LiveHalestorm
6 June 2023BerlinGermanyVelodromHalestorm
8 June 2023GdańskPolandGdańsk Shipyardrowspan="3"
10 June 2023SölvesborgSwedenNorje Havsbad-
11 June 2023LeicestershireEnglandDonington Park-
12 June 2023Esch-sur-AlzetteLuxembourgRockhalHalestorm
Lucifer
13 June 2023BochumGermanyRuhrCongressHalestorm
15 June 2023AntwerpBelgiumDessel
19 June 2023HamburgGermanyBarclays ArenaThe Hellacopters
20 June 2023Neu-UlmGermanyRatiopharm ArenaThe Hellacopters
22 June 2023Spálené PoříčíCzech RepublicFestivalový areálrowspan="6"
23 June 2023OsloNorwayEkebergsletta-
25 June 2023AthensGreeceAthens Olympic Complex-
28 June 2023ViveiroSpainCampo de Fútbol Celeiro-
1 July 2023SeinäjokiFinlandTörnävänsaari-
2 July 2023HelsinkiFinlandSuvilahti-
2 August 2023ConcordUnited StatesConcord PavilionAmon Amarth
4 August 2023AuburnUnited StatesWhite River AmphitheatreAmon Amarth
5 August 2023Airway HeightsUnited StatesBECU LiveAmon Amarth
7 August 2023West Valley CityUnited StatesUSANA Health Sciences AmphitheatreAmon Amarth
8 August 2023DenverUnited StatesFiddler's Green AmphitheatreAmon Amarth
11 August 2023St. LouisUnited StatesHollywood Casino AmphitheatreAmon Amarth
12 August 2023MilwaukeeUnited StatesAmerican Family Insurance AmphitheaterAmon Amarth
14 August 2023ClarkstonUnited StatesPine Knob Music TheatreAmon Amarth
15 August 2023ChicagoUnited StatesHuntington Bank PavilionAmon Amarth
16 August 2023CincinnatiUnited StatesPNC PavilionAmon Amarth
18 August 2023SyracuseUnited StatesSt. Joseph's Health AmphitheaterAmon Amarth
19 August 2023MansfieldUnited StatesXfinity CenterAmon Amarth
20 August 2023BridgeportUnited StatesHartford Healthcare AmphitheaterAmon Amarth
22 August 2023IndianapolisUnited StatesTCU Amphitheater at White River State ParkAmon Amarth
23 August 2023BurgettstownUnited StatesThe Pavilion at Star LakeAmon Amarth
24 August 2023BristowUnited StatesJiffy Lube LiveAmon Amarth
25 August 2023CamdenUnited StatesFreedom Mortgage PavilionAmon Amarth
27 August 2023NashvilleUnited StatesAscend AmphitheaterAmon Amarth
2 September 2023The WoodlandsUnited StatesCynthia Woods Mitchell PavilionAmon Amarth
3 September 2023AustinUnited StatesGermania Insurance AmphitheaterAmon Amarth
5 September 2023IrvingUnited StatesThe Pavilion at Toyota Music FactoryAmon Amarth
7 September 2023AlbuquerqueUnited StatesIsleta AmphitheaterAmon Amarth
8 September 2023PhoenixUnited StatesTalking Stick Resort AmphitheatreAmon Amarth
11 September 2023InglewoodUnited StatesKia Forumrowspan="2"
12 September 2023InglewoodUnited StatesKia Forum-
18 September 2023Mexico CityMexicoPalacio de los DeportesTribulation
20 September 2023São PauloBrazilEspaço UnimedCrypta
21 September 2023São PauloBrazil-Crypta
24 September 2023Buenos AiresArgentinaMovistar ArenaPoseidotica
27 September 2023SantiagoChileMovistar ArenaPentagram Chile
3 October 2023SydneyAustraliaQudos Bank ArenaSoutheast Desert Metal
4 October 2023MelbourneAustraliaJohn Cain ArenaSoutheast Desert Metal
7 October 2023BrisbaneAustraliaBrisbane Entertainment CentreSoutheast Desert Metal