Ghost have easily become one of the biggest bands in not just metal and rock, but in music in general. From their awesome songs to their incredible theatrical performances, the band know how to win folks over.
As of recently, the band have been on the road as part of a North American arena tour, being joined by Mastodon and Spiritbox. Via a new article from The Wall Street Journal, Ghost frontman Tobias Forge spoke to the band’s efforts in touring and their success. Forge starts off by talking about his goals to tour intensely, striving to capture the live experiences that other bands like Metallica have had.
Tobias Forge says, “I sat with a map and just mapped out how they traveled. So, for me, it’s always been, if you want to make it big, if you want to be a musician, you need to tour all the time. And you need to do, like, five shows in Wisconsin.”
But alongside his planning of routes and locations, Forge says there is another factor that has played a great deal in Ghost’s touring success: their merch. If you have taken a look over the years at Ghost merchandise, you will have seen that the band has a great plethora of shirt designs (and other Ghost related items to purchase). Forge speaks to this significant factor, saying:
“If it wasn’t for the fact that we had a very strong merch situation, I don’t think we would ever be able to tour the way that we have done over the last 12 years.”
Do you think Forge is right to say that the band’s merch is a strong factor in regards to their touring success?
When it comes to the modern rock show, we have had folks like Poison drummer Rikki Rockett saying that The Stadium Tour has proven that “rock ‘n’ roll is not dead”; but while The Stadium Tour involves bands that formed back decades ago, Ghost’s arena tour features much more modern bands. We think the Ghost arena tour is a great sign that modern rock and metal are doing well, and per Forge himself, he says: “I wouldn’t be too worried about arena rock or stadium rock dying.”