Ghost originally didn't want to play festivals: "The plan...was just to play in the dark"

Credit: Mikael ErikssonGhost will be back in the U.S. this weekend to play two festivals: Columbus, Ohio’s Sonic Temple on Friday and Chicago Open Air on Saturday. Speaking to ABC Radio, frontman Tobias Forge says that early on, he didn’t want the band to play festivals, as he felt their elaborate costumes and stage set-up wouldn’t work well in the daylight.

“Originally, the plan for Ghost was just to play in the dark,” Forge explains. “And that was a nice principle, the idea was nice in theory, when we didn’t have any offers.”

Those offers did eventually come, but since Ghost was then still an up-and-coming band, they were scheduled for mid-day sets ahead of bigger headliners who would play later that night. After much thought, Forge decided that it’d be better to be seen in the daylight by thousands than ignored in the darkness of smaller clubs.

“Even though the presentation wasn’t optimal, I just figured that, ‘Well, more people will know us,'” he recalls. “‘And if this is as good as I think it is, we will slowly approach the dark as we go on.'”

Forge’s prophecy came true: Ghost’s set starts at 8 p.m. at Chicago Open Air and 8:40 p.m. at Sonic Temple.

Following their festival stops, Ghost will return to Europe in June to resume their tour opening for Metallica.

“It is very much a dream come true, and very gratifying for me,” Forge says of opening for the metal legends. “I am a very, very, very avid fan of Metallica.”