Seriously, we saw more rain the past three days than, like, all of Spring combined. OK, I don’t know the real numbers but it seemed like it. Our backyard was a lake and Ash was panicking. But we can only do so much, you know? It’s actually dry and a little sunny today, though supposed to rain more. UGH. This means we didn’t get much of anything done in the house this weekend aside from laundry. We ran a couple errands Saturday but then sat around. But that afternoon, I took Isaac to his first concert. I am going to recap it below. I know y’all are into way different music but I like to detail my experiences so hang in there:

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(To note, Ghost concerts are called rituals)

Does it count as my second ritual since I saw them open for Maiden in 2017? I think so. I go in phases with bands and after Preqeulle came out, I stopped avidly listening for a few months there but when I saw tix were going on sale near me, I was brought back into the fold.

Drove a bit over two hours to Jacksonville’s Florida Theater then quickly found parking and assumed our position in line. My son’s first concert; it was a little eye-opening for him. I honestly thought there would be more teenaged goth girls. Surprisingly not. Once inside the historic venue, we waited in the merch line then got drinks and sat. Kind of wish I’d been closer but it was a small place so it still felt pretty intimate.

First act had a lot of the older stuff and some stuff from Prequelle. I thought their setlist was perfectly paced. I ran out during Miasma and before Jigolo to hit the bathroom then again during Witch Image to get a drink. The venue had two special mixed drinks called Pale Death and The Papa, which is the one I chose because Jack and Ginger Ale is more basic. What was awesome was that it was easy to quickly get to the bathroom and the bar, unlike seeing a show in a huge arena. I barely missed anything.

The entire second act was intense – not one song that lagged. During If You Have Ghosts, when Toby introduced the ghouls, I realized I’m head over heels for Multi/Swiss army. Man can that boy move his body, the sexy beast. And Aether is BEEFY and as soon as he rolled up his sleeves, I died. I did; I just passed tf out. But no really, my new fave. I see why people like Dewdrop too; he’s an amazing guitarist and smol and adorable.

Swiss army/multi ghoul:

Aether and his SLEEVES! And Dew too.

For non-fans, the band is made up entirely of masked figures and for a long time, not even fans knew their real identities. Ghouls were dubbed based on elements (Water, air, etc…but you also had Omega, Alpha, and Special.) But then the original band sued Toby the singer and it was a mess so most of these ghouls I saw are new. Anyway, here’s a gifset that perfectly exemplifies me trying to explain Ghost to a non-fan:

Suffice to say, an excellent show. 10/10 would recommend. Far better, of course, than when I saw them as a support group. Happy for them that they’ll go out with Metallica for the Euro leg.

It was so fun and I had such a good time that everything else seems blah now. I don’t want to work, but that could also be the pre-holiday break blues also. I am so ready for Christmas, you guys. And I know today’s theme is Xmas songs but I am going to share a Ghost song AND an Xmas one. They recently put out a video for their super-poppy banger, Dance Macabre and I just freaking love this song. The video is a little funky with some horror elements but hey, it’s a sub-culture. Try listening to it without the video if it’s weird for you; there’s some serious Disco/70s pop tones and it’s so damn catchy.

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OK, let’s do a Christmas song because that’s the theme today, far as I can tell.