Community members pray ahead of Ghost’s Texas show: “They are all about worshipping … Satan”
Ghost are set to play a show at the Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center in Midland, Texas, tonight (November 19th), and in advance of the show, a group of community members gathered near the venue over the weekend to pray, citing the Swedish metal act as “a worship band for Satan.”
Local pastor Larry Long told CBS 7, “We’re not here to protest. We’re just simply here to pray, to pray His protection, to plead the blood of Christ over our community. This kind of band will bring spiritual influences into this area. We’re concerned about it, because we believe the devil is real, just as we believe God is real.”
He added, “The fact that they describe themselves as a worship band for Satan, is, I think quite shocking. And I think most of our community would be surprised to learn that. They cover their faces with masks that look like devils in their concerts, and they are all about worshipping and brining glory to Satan. And it’s just not the thing I think most of Permian Basin would be happy to have in our community.”
When the venue was contacted by the TV station, it responded, “Shock rock has been a part of the heavy metal landscape from the early days of Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper and Marilyn Manson. Each performer bringing to the stage their own version of a cruel world. Ghost, with their album’s No. 3 spot on the Billboard charts, is continuing in those metal bands’ footsteps.”
Ghost’s current North American tour runs through a December 15th show in Brooklyn, NY. The band will embark on a European tour in early 2019, before serving as support on Metallica’s tour of Europe in the spring and summer. See our recent interview with frontman Tobias Forge (aka Cardinal Copia), as well as the band’s tour dates, here.
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