Ghost mainman Tobias Forge has explained why the band's upcoming live shows will be a phone-free experience.
They announced the decision last year after experimenting with the idea during two shows at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles in 2023.
Fans' phones were magnetically sealed in pouches which they carried on their person and the pouches could only be unsealed as they left the venue. The same process will be applied for Ghost's 2025 dates.
- “Had fans had mobile phones, they would have been climbing over old-age pensioners to take selfies”: Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson is a big fan of Ghost banning phones from gigs
- “It made people feel uncomfortable. It made for a lot of misunderstandings and just made life hard”: Ghost’s Tobias Forge explains the struggles of being a masked, anonymous metal musician
Forge tells Audacy: "It's an experiment. Over the years it's gone absolutely insane. If you have 10,000 people at a concert and 8,000 of them are holding a phone, there's something deeply disconnected.
"If I'm just speaking for myself ... I know a lot of artists don't care and I know that there are plenty of upsides, especially commercially.
"The whole thing in the business is, basically, 'Yeah, we want people to film because we want people to see the show, and that will sell more tickets.'
"Fine. I understand that there's a promotional tool with social media. I'm not gonna neglect that. Part of our success is obviously from social media. We started on MySpace. That was the root cause for our success at the time. I don't know if we would ever become anything if it weren't for MySpace. And, obviously, our TikTok has played a huge part.
"I'm just saying that when it comes to the actual live show, my calling, my reason for being there, is the connection between myself and everybody that I brought with me that are working in tandem to give you an experience.
"That experience is completely decocked if everybody's just filming. Am I wrong? Am I right? I don't know. That's how I, and we, felt."
Ghost recently announced a 'new' frontman – Papa V Perpetua – and an upcoming new album, Skeletá.
Ghost 2025 tour dates
Apr 15: Manchester AO Arena, UK
Apr 16: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Apr 19: London The O2, UK
Apr 20: Birmingham Utilita Arena, UK
Apr 22: Antwerp Sportpaleis, Belgium
Apr 23: Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany
Apr 24: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
Apr 26: Lyon LDLC Arena, France
Apr 27: Toulouse Zenith Metropole, France
Apr 29: Lisbon MEO Arena, Portugal
Apr 30: Madrid Palacio Vistalegre, Spain
May 03: Zurich AG Hallenstadion, Switzerland
May 04: Milan Unipol Forum, Italy
May 07: Berlin Uber Arena, Germany
May 08: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
May 10: Lodz Atlas Arena, Poland
May 11: Prague O2 Arena, Czech Republic
May 13: Paris Accor Arena, France
May 14: Oberhausen Rudolph Weber Arena, Germany
May 15: Hannover ZAG Arena, Germany
May 17: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
May 20: Tampere Nokia Arena, Finland
May 22: Linköping Saab Arena, Sweden
May 23: Sandviken Göransson Arena, Sweden
May 24: Oslo Spektrum, Norway
Jul 09: Baltimore CFG Bank Arena, MD
Jul 11: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Jul 12: Tampa Amalie Arena, FL
Jul 13: Miami Kaseya Center, FL
Jul 15: Raleigh PNC Arena, NC
Jul 17: Cleveland Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, OH
Jul 18: Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, PA
Jul 19: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center, PA
Jul 21: Boston TD Garden, MA
Jul 22: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Jul 24: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI
Jul 25: Louisville KFC Yum! Center, KY
Jul 26: Nashville Bridgestone Arena, TN
Jul 28: Grand Rapids Van Andel Arena, MI
Jul 29: Milwaukee Fiserv Forum, WI
Jul 30: St Louis Enterprise Center, MO
Aug 01: Rosemont Allstate Arena, IL
Aug 02: Saint Paul Xcel Energy Center, MN
Aug 03: Omaha CHI Health Center, NE
Aug 05: Kansas City T-Mobile Center, MO
Aug 07: Denver Ball Arena, CO
Aug 09: Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena, NV
Aug 10: San Diego Viejas Arena, CA
Aug 11: Phoenix Footprint Center, AZ
Aug 14: Austin Moody Center ATX, TX
Aug 15: Fort Worth Dickies Arena, TX
Aug 16: Houston Toyota Center, TX
Sep 24: Mexico City Palacio De Los Deportes
