GHOST had to cut its performance short at Hellfest last night (Saturday, June 18) due to frontman Tobias Forge losing his voice.
After performing the song “Dance Macabre” at the massive France based festival, Forge told the audience: “My voice is completely fucked. I cannot sing one other song for you.”
Before their Hellfest appearance, GHOST had last taken the stage at the final show of the group’s European headlining tour on May 18 in Budapest, Hungary.
One highlight of the band’s performance on Saturday night was it’s performance of the song “Griftwood“, from GHOST‘s latest album “Impera“, live for the first time. The song throws shade at Donald Trump-era U.S. vice president Mike Pence who many believe was half of the most destructive presidential office of modern times.
Forge told Kerrang! magazine about the track: “That song’s about him and anyone like him who’s willing to soil everything they’ve worked for. They definitely qualify for a front-row ticket to Hell. Which is so ironic, because that’s what they believe in. [People like that] completely demean themselves, and just eat shit out of someone’s ass in order to achieve whatever they’re trying to achieve.
Tobias continued: “Again, he stands as a symbol for people of all times, where the end game is wrapped with some sort of religious [thing]. He’s known as this sort of Bible thumper, believing that he has strong faith, and he’s just this awful, awful person in any way. He tries to tell the world that he serves God, that he’s part of the good side. Whereas at the end of the day, the only thing he wants is power. But it doesn’t have to necessarily be all about him. It’s about people like him: a lot of politicians, lot of preachers, a lot of clergymen throughout the history of time.”
You can check out some fan-filmed video footage of the performance below.